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Southern District of New-York, ss. 

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the third day of June, in the forty- 
seventh year of the Independence of the United States of America, LAU- 
RENCE KEAN, of the said District, has deposited in this Office the title of 
a Book, the right whereof he claims as author in the words following-. 
to wit i 

"A Plain and Positive Refutation of the Rev. Samuel Pelton's Unjust and 
Unfounded Charges, entitled 4 The Absurdities ot Methodism :' containing 

I. A Public Debate held at Havtrstraiv, Rockland County, N. Y. 

II. Remarks on the several Articles debated. 

III. The perfect Conformity of the Methodist Doctrine and Discipline to 

Scripture, Reason, and Common Sense. — By the Rev. Laurence Kean." 

In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled "An Act 
for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, 
and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times 
therein mentioned :" And also, to an Act, entitled " An Act supplementary to 
to an Act, entitled an Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing 
the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such 
copies during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof 
to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints. 1 - 

JAMES DILL, 
Clerk of the Southern District of New- York. 



DEDICATION. 



To the Methodist Episcopal Church at 
Haverstraw : and the Members of 
other Churches, who were witnesses 
of the debate betwixt Mr. Pelton and 
me. 

DEAR BRETHREN AND FRIENDS, 

It is a thought that cannot but deeply 
impress the mind of a considerate person, 
that whatever relates to the important sub- 
ject of Religion, puts in a peculiar claim to 
the attention of every sincere professor; who, 
in addition to his sound belief of the truth, 
is expected to manifest, both in public and 
private life, an imitation (however short of 
the original) of the meek and lowly model 
exhibited by our great Redeemer, when he 
condescended to sojourn among men. 

Several of you being present at a debate 
betwixt Mr. Pelton and me, at Haverstraw, 
must recollect what impression the matters 
treated of, and the method and temper 'jm? 
which they were handled, made upon your 
minds, and Adio it was, who, through the 




DEDICATION. 



series of argumentation, supported his rea- 
sons and proofs, with the plainest and most 
positive evidences, as well scriptural, as ra- 
tional and moral, upon the occasion. 

Mr. Pelton, taking advantage of my ab- 
sence, has ventured to appear before the 
public in the character of an author, as well 
as a professed disputant ; but in this also, 
I am sorry to say, manifesting not the most 
candid method of proceeding : only pub- 
lishing as much of our debate as he thought 
might serve the cause he espoused, and cut- 
ting short the remainder, where it suited 
him, by repeating et ceteras, &c. &c. Now 
in this way of proceeding, a person may as 
well separate the head from the body, or the 
superstructure and roof from the foundation, 
and then call either part by the name of the 
mansion of the owner. 

My friends at Haverstraw, understanding 
that I am now at New-York, request that I 
would give his publication, (however insig- 
nificant) an immediate answer. I shall 
take it up, and by plain arguments and 
proofs, both scriptural and rational, proceed 
to a thorough refutation of it. .Though the 
" Absurdities 55 be devoid of all solidity of 
thought, and propriety of expression, yet he 
undertakes by it no less an achievement 
than to level mountains at a breath. To 
persons of discernment, it must present it- 
self under no very favourable aspect, while 
it betrays hurry of temper and want of se- 
rious thought, as well as a f^ous zeal all 




DEDICATION. 



on fire. Shallow as it is, it is at the same 
time too correct to be the genuine produc- 
tion of Mr. Pelton's pen. The facts and 
incidents which make up the matter of it, 
are a strange chaos, jumbled, heaped up 
indiscriminately, and running over, without 
the appearance of discernment in the col- 
lector, or candour in the examiner and 
judge. 

After some serious consideration, I offer 
to your perusal, a few plain (and I hope not 
uncharitable) strictures, on Mr. Pelton's 
publication, purporting to be the substance 
of our debate at Haverstraw, which several 
of you heard, and in which you showed no 
small concern. Religious opinions and mo- 
ral practice, have often a far nearer connex* 
ion than persons altogether unconcerned are 
aware of. The inward leaven (even of 
opinion) will have no small influence on the 
general mass of temper and conduct. 

I request that the most unbiassed impar- 
tiality may be evidenced by you, in reading 
both sides of the question. The following 
pages were prepared for the press, in what 
might be called fragments of time, which I 
snatched from other very necessary avoca- 
tions : you will therefore be so very kind as 
to excuse what defects you may happen to 
discover in them. Let it be our chief busi- 
ness, however, while we guard the walls 
from the attacks of open hostility, to walk 
worthy of the Lord, and of that Gospel 
which we know to be the power of God to 
J* 



DEDICATION. 



salvation. While every advancing year, and 
revolving day of life shall bring us nearer to 
a conclusion on earth, let us see also that 
they ripen us more and more for that state 
of everlasting quiet, where all shall not only 
be peace, but joy and assurance for ever. 

I hope the following work will not only 
prove the truth, and disprove errors, laid to 
the charge of Methodism ; but also breathe 
a spirit of seriousness, and an affectionate 
concern for the instruction of ignorance, the 
removal of error, and the salvation of pre- 
cious souls. I hope the observations made, 
are not only intellectual and doctrinal, but 
calculated, by the blessing of God, to sub- 
serve the interests of pure and undefiled 
Christianity ; directing the attentive reader 
to Christ, and encouraging his humble con- 
fidence in the mercy of God, through the 
great Mediator. 

Should this publication, which undertakes 
to answer and refute Mr. Pelton's " Absur- 
dities," promote the cause of genuine truth, 
and evangelical religion ; should it remove 
the mists of prejudice, and advance mutual 
forbearance, in those who proceed in the 
heavenly course, my utmost wishes will be 
amply gratified. 

I am, dear Brethren and Friends, 
Your faithful Friend 

And Servant in Christ, 

LAURENCE KEAJS\ 



PREFACE. 



To be able to give a reasonable answer to seri- 
ous inquiry, concerning the hope that is in us, the 
truths we believe, and the plan of our general 
conduct, is not only the serious demand of inspi- 
ration, but the necessary work of duty, in laying 
a sure foundation for some special time to come, 
when every man's religious attainments shall be 
brought to a test, as gold to a refiner's fire. 

Opposition, arising from various causes, ought 
not only to be apprehended by the cautious and 
the wise individual ; but also by every body of 
professing Christians ; and particularly when on 
the spur of certain occasions, a sort of persons 
may be apprehended who attempt to confute prin- 
ciples, however conformable to the standard of 
truth ; affecting to exhibit them alternately, as the 
objects of ridicule and of serious alarm. Not 
only the candid inquirer and genuine believer, 
but the heroic confessor and the triumphant mar- 
tyr, have had patient endurance of undeserved 
evil imposed on them, as a most necessary duty, 
They had to pass through evil report as well as 
good report. 

Religion itself, as exhibited in the works of the 
greatest divines, as a spiritual energy in the soul, 
stimulating to all outward holiness of life and con- 
versation ; as a little leaven leavening the whole 
lump, is by Mr. Pelton, and his colleagues in pub- 
lication, incautiously resolved into the irregula- 
rity of Enthusiasm, even when applied to the seri- 



£ PREFACE. 

oils concern of ever so true a penitent. Every 
agitation of inward feeling, is made to appear no- 
vel and irregular. The arrows of keen convic- 
tion, the self-abasement springing from a deep, a 
clear, and impartial view of past life ; the remorse 
of mind which generally attends a true repen- 
tance ; the serious inquiry of " What shall I do to 
be saved ?" the pleasure which must flow from be- 
lieving in Christ with the heart unto righteousness, 
as the atonement and mediator, are all indiscri- 
minately attributed to the undefined principle of 
fanaticism. These leading, yet evident features 
of their book, must certainly show to every can- 
did reader and observer, the great mischief which 
is but too likely to result from men undertaking to 
write on subjects which they do not understand, 
and to define and affirm, of that of which they have 
no experience. 

In the management of an important subject, it 
is expected that its genuine principles will be 
thoroughly investigated, and that measure of se- 
rious consideration bestowed upon it, which it 
so justly demands. This part of the undertaking 
must certainly cost some labour, and put the flights 
of imagination under those necessary curbs which 
preserve it from wandering and levity, and render 
it the most essential service. It is by this neces- 
sary discipline that the inquiring mind becomes 
strong and vigorous, and proceeds under the gui- 
dance of reason, judgment, and orderly method. 

A scriptural doctrine, when advanced for gene- 
ral instruction, to readers or auditors, ought to be 
attended with as little difficulty as possible. Em- 
barrassment and obscurity ought to be laid aside : 
and the profit of the simplest ought not to be 
overlooked. It is impossible to edify them, un- 
less the writer be very plain, and very clear in his 
subject and method. If a work be allowed to 



PREFACE. $ 

appear in the world, which happens to be ill con- 
ceived, obscure, undeterminate ; instead of ad- 
vancing lucid proofs, or convincing arguments, 
which would mutually support each other, confu- 
sion and obscurity will be the inevitable conse- 
quences. Every candid promoter of the public 
good, prefers rather that the plain and simple 
should be edified, than that fancy should be tick- 
led at the expense of edification. 

A man may be a consistent Calvinist, and yet 
not so far a zealot of his system, as not to per- 
ceive the irrelevancy to the subject of many of 
the texts of scripture usually pressed into its 
service. Di\ Doddridge in this sense of the words, 
was a moderate Calvinist 5 having had the can- 
dour to give to sundry passages, interpretations 
different from those of Calvinistic expositors in 
general. While the Jew presses every favoura- 
ble text of the Old Testament into the service of 
the church, as made up of the house of Israel, 
why should the Christian, and particularly the 
teacher of Christianity, exclude those that come 
from the North and South, and East and West, 
and who shall be preferred, even before the ap- 
parently elect,— while the latter, notwithstanding 
their pretensions, shall be cast out into outer dark- 
ness for want of something more and better than 
a name ? 

There are many things of which we cannot ex- 
pect a complete knowledge in this life ; especial- 
ly if they be concerning God, who in his nature is 
incomprehensible. Even in nature, there are 
several things hard to be understood or compre- 
hended : such as the continuity of matter ; how 
the parts of it hang together in a close attach- 
ment ; — there are many things in ourselves equal- 
ly difficult to oar comprehension: as the vital 
union of soul and body, by which a spirit comes 



10 PREFACE. 

to be so closely linked to a material body, tbat 
they are not to be parted without great force and 
violence offered to nature. The like may be 
said of the operations of our several faculties of 
sense and imagination ; of memory and reason ; 
and especially of the liberty of our wills. And 
yet we certainly find all these faculties in our- 
selves, though we cannot either infallibly com- 
prehend or definitely explain the manner in 
which their various operations are performed. 

And if we cannot comprehend the manner of 
those operations which we plainly perceive in 
ourselves, how much less can we expect to com- 
prehend things without us ? Least of all can we 
pretend to comprehend the infinite nature and per- 
fections of God. For, God himself is certainly the 
greatest mystery in the universe. The reason of 
this is very evident; because God is infinite, and 
therefore incomprehensible. Our powers are ve- 
ry scanty, and must for ever fall ?hort in this great 
research. 

The same difficulty is attached to God's certain 
knowledge of future contingences, which depend 
upon the uncertain wills of free agents. It being 
inconceivable to our capacity, how any under- 
standing, how large and perfect soever, can cer- 
tainly know beforehand that which depends upon 
the free will of another. And yet the Scriptures 
not only attribute this knowledge to God, but 
give us plain instances of God's foretelling such 
things, many years, or even ages before they came 
to pass. He knew of some things that could not 
come to pass but by the sons of men, in which we 
are sure that God could have no hand, though no- 
thing could happen without his permission. 

There is hardly any thing more inconceivable 
than how there should be such a thing as self-ex- 
istence, namely, being of itself without any cause 



PREFACE. 11 

of its being: and yet our reason compels us to 
acknowledge this. By this reasoning we are for- 
ced to acknowledge a Deity, the one, eternal, 
wise Principle, and great First Cause of ail things, 
whom we call God. Here alone we find rest for 
the mind. 

There is the like difficulty in conceiving how 
any thing can be made out of nothing; and yet 
our reason compels us to believe it. As matter 
is a very imperfect being, and merely passive, it 
must have been made out of nothing by an infi- 
nite and eternal Being, or must have always 
been. 

Surely a Christian writer, who desires to im- 
prove, as well as to instruct, should banish from 
his thoughts (hose plans which may appear to 
dazzle, by a sophistical singularity, or a subtle pa- 
radox ; plans neither sufficiently distinct to be re- 
tained, nor sufficiently important to be filled up, 
and which only hold out vain and useless spe- 
culations. Every plan should be simple and 
rational. Proofs which are clear and distinct, 
will impress themselves upon the memory, while 
show only aims at dazzling with quaint conceits 
and puzzling riddles. 

It is unquestionably to be wished, that those who 
publish their private sentiments, may be animated 
with a pure desire to do good, and not by a blind 
wish to shine at the expense of that substantial 
honour, which might be obtained, were they to give 
themselves up to the pure emotions of genuine 
good will, which may very well be reconciled 
with the publication of such sentiments as contri- 
bute to ascribe glory to God, and good will to 
man. 

I am sensible that in handling so tender a point, 
as this must needs be, there is danger of a warmth 
which does no honour to one's cause, and which is 



12 PREFACE. 

by no means countenanced by the Gospel. I 
desire neither to show nor to feel this ; but ra- 
ther to speak the truth in love, (the only warmth 
which the Gospel allows) and to write with calm- 
ness, though not with indifference. There is* 
likewise, in controversy of any sort, a danger of 
despising our opponents, and of speaking with an 
air of disdain. I would gladly keep from this also, 
well knowing that a diffidence of one's self, is far 
from implying a diffidence of his cause. 

To attract public attention, bv sending abroad 
a literary production, is far from being the end of 
the present undertaking. Though the cause which 
I have espoused, and in which I feel an interest 
and an honour, be attacked in no very generous 
or candid way, I allowed the book a free scope, 
not believing that any persons well versed in the 
great and leading principles of the Gospel, would 
be likely to hazard any serious loss by it. They 
know that God was in Christ reconciling the 
world to himself; and that he who showed this 
mercy, to which they had no claim, has no plea- 
sure in the death of a sinner ; but on the contrary, 
that he would turn from his evil ways and live. 

However, on the intimation of some judicious 
friends, that all in that neighbourhood, and in 
other places where his libel may have circula- 
tion, are not of the same standing or attainment in 
religion, and that the young and the weak, who 
are compared to children, are liable to be turned 
out of the way, by an opposition, though of little 
magnitude, I consented to publish something by 
way of answer. No minister of the Methodist 
Church having thought fit to answer Mr. Pelton's 
" Absurdities," it falls to my lot again to step for- 
ward, to check, in some measure, the bravado of 
empty parade, assuming the characters of argu- 
ment. 



PREFACE. 13 

The object of the author of the present work, is 
the sustaining of what he conceives to be correct 
views in the controversy between some Christians, 
who, instead of attending to the things that are re- 
vealed, are sometimes too prone to pry into those 
secret things which belong only to the Lord our 
God. Being not only a sincere believer in what 
he conceives to be the true Gospel plan of sal- 
vation, (i. e. that God was in Christ reconciling 
the world to himself,) but also a minister of the 
good news, he deems it his duty to give the weight 
of some special reasons to his opinions on these 
points. He considers the free offer of a universal 
salvation to all mankind, and which may be em- 
braced by every individual, to be, not only the 
sentiment of the church of which he is a minis- 
ter, and of many other churches, but also of plain, 
positive, and numerous scriptures, as well as of 
sound reason and genuine experience. 

To be able to stand before splendid abilities, or 
to oppose any thing like sound argument, enlisted 
on the side of error, (which is too oiten the case) 
might distinguish an opponent, as one of some 
weight or importance. But to undertake the con- 
futation of a work, which does not pretend to 
much depth of thought, or strength of language, 
and which employs at least the weak and absurd, 
and sometimes the irreconcileable, requires neither 
energy nor ability. Zeal and talents may shine 
in particular crises of affairs, and the press super- 
add its testimony in favour of many literary pro- 
ductions, while others who have to trace an anta- 
gonist through the meanders of wandering eva- 
sion, must arm themselves with no small stock of 
forbearance. 

Mr. Pelton's book, having awakened the em- 
bers of slumbering controversy from their ashes, 
where they had lain silently for some time, and 
2 



14 PREFACE- 

excited some fresh stir, the author of the present 
work is sorry he has had to take notice in many 
places, of unjust misrepresentation, unfounded 
charges, and unwarrantable epithets, bestowed 
upon the Church with which he thinks it a high 
privilege to associate, and the sentiments which 
appears to him to be the most evangelical, as 
well as the general system and economy of that 
Church, which, under Providence, has been ren- 
dered instrumental, not only in reforming the 
vicious and profane, but in converting the obsti- 
nate, and bringing glory to God by the salvation of 
souls. To state the principles of Methodism in 
a plain, yet correct point of view, will be a con- 
siderable part of this work. 

The doctrine of the freeness of the universal 
and saving grace of God, — the chief subject of 
difference or contest, (and which is here presented 
to the public in as plain a way as possible,) has 
occupied my serious thoughts. If my observa- 
tions on this subject be just and scriptural, without 
being forced or constrained, let the reader weigh 
the statements, and give God the praise, for any 
benefit he may receive. It would be presumption 
in me, however closely and seriously 1 may have 
considered the question, to boast of entire origi- 
nality of thought on a subject which has been so 
frequently and so ably discussed by men of the 
greatest talent and integrity. 

In unfolding the doctrines of the Methodist 
Church, and which he sincerely believes to be the 
doctrines of the Gospel, the author is not without 
apprehension of the very great danger to which he 
must expose himself of being understood as assail- 
ing the tenets of other bodies of professing Chris- 
tians. This is by no means the object which he 
proposes to himself. But in the defence of what 
he believes to be the truth, there must occur the 



PREFACE. 15 

necessity of reference to principles, which are 
contrary to the principles maintained in this work. 
At the same time, he is convinced that a predi- 
lection for one system, ought not to give a tinc- 
ture of severity to one's censures, or embitter 
his language. For the prejudices of education, 
country, connexions, &c„ great allowances must 
be made by every liberal mind. True liberty 
must therefore be allowed to every reader to 
judge for himself. 

As all the ways of God are good, in number, 
weight, and measure, there can be no doubt enter- 
tained for a moment, but the great end for which 
he allowed the discovery of the art of printing to 
his human creatures, was, not only to make them 
wiser, but better also. Where the unfolding of 
truth is conducted in a plain, instructive, progres- 
sive, and convincing manner, the sentiments can- 
not be seriously read, without our being animated 
with a spark of the fire which glowed in the 
breasts of the writers. Several of those stars of 
different magnitudes, have left us the best exam- 
ples. They have not lost si^ht of the temperate 
Christian in the zealous controvertist. Not dis- 
posed to censure any temperate investigation of 
truth, they at the same time would not condemn 
to everlasting ruin all that dared in the least tittle 
to differ from them, knowing, that what a man is, 
must be taken into account with God, as well as 
what he believes or thinks. 

If we look into sacred history, where sentiments 
most divine will be manifested, awakening the 
soul, and expanding the thoughts to the utmost 
pitch, we cannot but be convinced, in the clearest 
manner, that the design of the inspired writers, 
was to instruct men in the great concerns of their 
everlasting peace. All kinds of sacred instruc- 
tion are intended to advance the great design of 



16 PREFACE. 

making us wise to salvation. The intent of each 
part in particular, and of all the parts in general, 
when united and combined, will be found to be, 
not so much to please the imagination, as to en- 
lighten the understanding, and amend the heart. 
Inspiration is pleased to make use even of the 
imagination as a canal, by which to convey truth 
to the heart, in the use of figures, allegories, rich- 
ness of expression, and harmony of numbers. All 
the various ways and means are employed, for the 
great and holy purpose of bringing sinners to God, 
and building up those that are already true 
believers, in their most holy faith. None of this 
energy is employed to tell sinners that their case is 
already hopeless, and that they are under an una- 
voidable decree. 

Should the author's open controversy with an 
opponent, and his remarks on it, appear in a 
stronger light, than that of merely exhibiting his 
views of the tenets of the Church with which he 
is connected, since he has gone so far sometimes 
as to cite and comment not only on the works of 
known authors of other communions, but even 
on the authorized standards of their belief, and 
of their public administrations, he hopes that 
while he^ asserts, that there should be a mutual 
bearing and forbearing among Christians of differ- 
ent denominations, and that all liberties should 
be taken with candour, and be free alike from 
misrepresentation and uncharitableness, that the 
present work will not be a contradiction to this 
principle. How far he has conformed to the 
laws laid down by the Christian rule, he hopes 
the candid reader will judge impartially. 

If it be an arduous undertaking to appear on a 
set occasion, before a numerous assembly, which 
listens with a close attention to the verbal discus- 
sion of an important subject, since there is 



PREFACE. 17 

scarcely an individual who will not have it in his 
power to observe if there be any faults or errors 
in the speaker, though carried along on the rapid 
wing of quick delivery; how much more atten- 
tive ought the writer of a work to be 5 however 
limited its spread, or silent its progress ? If, when 
we speak in public, judgment be pronounced 
upon us, how much more likely is the sentence to 
be passed when we assume the hardihood to com- 
mit those sentiments to the press, and send them 
forth to sustain their trial and receive their doom ? 
Besides the natural powers which instructive wri- 
ting requires, and the want of which, application 
cannot supply, every writer who wishes to give 
solid satisfaction to his reader, must have no small 
or scanty knowledge of his subject. He ought to 
make this a matter of serious reflection, in order 
to discover its relations, and recommend its beau- 
ties. 

Some persons may perhaps doubt the propriety 
of the present undertaking. They are those who 
dislike every public discussion ; censuring all ar- 
gument, and thinking it productive only of mischief 
in society. Such persons, however, seem not 
aware, that there are various junctures, in which, 
to decline the field of argument, is an abandon- 
ment of ministerial duty, and Christian fidelity. 
Doubtless it is to be lamented, that occasion 
should have been given for censure, by those 
whose zeal outrunning their charity, sow the tares 
of dissention, and excite depraved passion to all 
its pernicious consequences. But though this 
conduct is worthy of high disapprobation, in what- 
ever cause it happens to be called forth, it is far 
from being an evidently correct position, that all 
religious speculation, is as indifferent as some sup- 
pose it to be, to the essential interests of society. 

2* 



18 PREFACE. 

The language of inspiration itself is, " prove all 
things : hold fast that which is good," 

Religion is a principle which exercises a great 
influence over the mind within, and consequently 
over the life without. It is necessary to the for- 
mation of solid character, that this religion should 
be built upon a proper basis ; and while it is firm- 
ly believed, in its evidences, that it should be felt 
in its influences, and exemplified in a fair, candid, 
and upright demeanour. It cannot but be seen, 
by men of impartial observation, that while some 
opinions tend to harmonize, and give an amiable 
habit to the disposition, there are others, which 
not only have no such tendency, but an opposite 
one, of putting into motion the worst properties 
of the human system, and of sanctioning them to 
the misguided conscience. It is certain, how- 
ever, (because a known fact). that many persons 
act altogether contrary to what seem the evident 
consequences of their opinions, some doing worse, 
and others better than we naturally expect or ap- 
prehend, from the connexion between a cause 
and its effect. So long as there is an interest ta- 
ken in religion, its subjects must be productive of 
discussion. 

It is not the entire suppression of controversy, 
but the moderate and judicious manner of con- 
ducting it, to which the friends of humanity and 
peace should direct their efforts. When more is 
undertaken, it seems a symptom of indifference, or 
of hostility to religion, which deceives the posses^ 
sor of it, under a splendid appearance, while furi- 
ous passion carries with it the imposing preten- 
sions of goJlv zeal. If the author of the present 
work could perceive any thing in what he has; 
written, the tendency of which would be to add 
to the mass of religious animosity and intole- 
,rance> he cannot foresee any advantage likely to 



PREFACE. 19 

arise from its publication. On the contrary, ha- 
ving endeavoured to cherish a different disposi- 
tion, and having executed to the best of his ^abi- 
lity, and the extent of his means, a work, which 
seems to him to be dictated by the interest he feels 
in the truth, as well as by his connexion with the 
Church of Christ : and this not without looking 
up for help and guidance to the Great Source 
from which all good desires, just thoughts; and 
holy acts proceed, he commits it with a measure of 
confidence, not of the sufficiency of the execu- 
tion, but of the integrity of the motive, to the bless- 
ing of God, and to the serious attention and can- 
did perusal of those who may feel an interest in 
the imoortance of the matter treated of. 

In presenting an impartial public with this 
feeble production, I propose, with a just diffidence 
of my own abilities, to lay before them some ob- 
servations which have eventually occurred to me 
in the course of my reading and experience, res- 
pecting the doctrines of the Methodist Church, 
which to know and recommend has been the 
study of the best part of my life. If I have some- 
times given a decided opinion- or judgment, I 
entreat the reader to remember, that I speak to him 
with freedom, yet without presumption. Far from 
intending to shine by any thing like wit, or to dis- 
hearten any sincere person by reproach, I speak 
only the language of a pure and genuine affection. 
If the attention of any reader be arrested, who may 
be so confident of his opinions as to connect his 
eternal safety with them, to the exclusion of that 
holiness of heart, and integrity of life, without 
which none shall be happy hereafter, I hope he 
will reject the principle as dangerous. 

In this work, I do not imagine that I have 
advanced any thing, which is not coincident 
with, and supported by, plain and scriptural 



20 PREFACE. 

authority. Should the reader meet with an argu- 
ment, or instance, that may appear to him deficient 
in connexion or satisfaction, let him dismiss that 
from his thoughts, but without prejudice to any 
other. If what is here offered, shall add one ray 
to the clearness of that light by which we see, that 
God was in Christ reconciling the world to him- 
self, having no pleasure in the death of a sinner, 
but rather that all such persons may return, re- 
pent, and live; and that a saving measure of his 
grace is given to every man to profit withal, my 
design will be fully accomplished. 



ACCOUNT OF A PUBLIC DEBATE, 

HELD AT HAVERSTRAW, APRIL 2, 1821, BETWEEN THE 

REV. LAURENCE KEAN, AND THE REV. 

SAMUEL PELTON. 

The Gospel of Christ having found its way to Ha- 
verstraw, Ptockland Co. State of New- York, through 
the instrumentality of his servants, the ministers of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a society or 
church being organized there, of persons who pro- 
fessed the doctrines, and conformed to the discipline, 
of the Methodist system, social and moral, the Rev. 
Mr. Pelton, the pastor of a congregation at Hempstead, 
apprehensive of his principles or office being in some 
danger, thought it necessary to act a part entirely dif- 
ferent from that of a cool spectator. 

I am sorry to say, that, instead of meeting his bre- 
thren in Christ, of the Methodist Church, with open 
arms, and encouraging them to go on hand in hand 
with himself in the good work of plucking sinners as 
birds from the snare, or brands from the burning— 
under the impression that in a work of that nature, 
two are better than one, either for wise and judicious 
consultation, or for united onset, in attacking the 
strong holds of the artful enemy of mankind, that he 
took quite a different plan. He did not think it be- 
neath, or inconsistent with the character of a minister 
of Christ, to go up and down, and about from house to 
house, making ever so many curious representations, 
and, w r hat is to be strongly apprehended, some very 
unfounded misrepresentations, concerning the doc- 
trines, discipline, and general economy of the Metho- 
dist Church. 

It is seriously to be regretted that a person should 
be such a zealous devotee to any system of doctrines, 
as to overlook, or shut out by wholesale, the morals 



22 ACCOUNT OF A PUBLIC DEBATE. 

of the gospel, and to forbid men to cast out devils, or 
demolish the strong holds of the common enemy, from 
the single cause of not following any former set of 
tenets, that might have been established in a place. 
What adds to the evil of misrepresentation is, that any 
person should allow his mind to be so far warped as 
to imagine that evil means, of any sort, could have the 
sanction of heaven, in establishing any cause, however 
good its pretensions. 

Misrepresentation is an evil which deserves to be 
destroyed, root and branch, from every individual, and 
community of Christians. How a person can lay claim 
to uprightness and sincerity of character, while, to 
serve the cause he has espoused, he can undermine the 
characters of the absent, and allow his zeal to traduce 
them in the grossest manner : while he can find, and 
express a pleasure in doing so, as if it were a duty ne- 
cessarily incumbent, I can hardly conjecture, without 
making an open sacrifice of the Christian principle of 
brotherly love, without which the warmest zeal, even 
in a good cause, would profit nothing. 

Mr. Pelton was not aware, or at least did not seri- 
ously consider the evil which this unwarrantable con- 
duct, however zealous, might do to the young and early 
converts, whose first fruits appearing in the fairest 
bloom, must suffer considerably, by seeing the open 
manifestation of so much deficiency of brotherly love, 
or, indeed, of direct calumny, in persons who, as 
fathers in Christ, ought to strengthen the weak hands, 
and confirm the feeble knees. By a conduct, in nowise 
reconcilable to the spirit of Christ, in elder brethren, 
hundreds have, in all ages, been impeded in their way 
to the mount of Zion ; and many have at length given 
up all concern, forsaking the assembling of themselves 
together, who, but for such disturbance, might have 
been useful ornaments, if not burning and shining 
lights, in the Church of Christ. 

I am sorry, also, that Mr. Pelton should allow him- 
self to be so far stimulated, and overcome by a party 
zeal, as to overlook, or not seriously consider, the 
true, yet lamentable fact, that character, however sin- 



ACCOUNT OF A PUBLIC DEBATE. 2d 

cere and unimpeachable, whether as referred to indi- 
viduals or communities, is much sooner lost, even 
through the medium of false charges, than recovered 
ao-ain, even on the clearest evidences of innocence and 
vindication. Scandal, which sometimes comprehends 
all manner of evils, falsely declared, is a river or 
stream which diffuses its putrid waters soon and 
rapidly by a thousand branches ; or, as an ancient poet 
observes, " Fame, than whom no fiend is more swift, 
by exerting her agility, grows more active, and ac- 
quires new strength by progressive motion : small at 
first through fear, soon she shoots up into the skies, 
stalks upon the ground, while she hides her head 
among the clouds. Swift she moves with feet and 
persevering wings : a monster, hideous and enormous ; 
who, wondrous to relate, for the plumes ofher body num- 
bers so many wakeful eyes beneath, so many tongues, 
so many babbling mouths, and erects so many listening 
ears. By night, through the mid region of the air, and 
through the shadow of earth, she flies buzzing, nor ever 
inclines her eyes to balmy rest. Watchful by day, she 
either perches on some high housetop, or on lofty 
turrets, and fills mighty cities with dismay : obstinately 
bent on reporting falsehood and iniquity." 

Defamation, on ever so small a scale, seldom passes 
from one retailer to another, without exaggeration, in 
colours or magnitude. What at first appeared trivial 
and insignificant, is by advancement of evil progress, 
enlarged to enormity of dimensions. Defamation, 
surely, can plead no warrantable connexion with the 
simplicity and godly sincerity of the Gospel system ; 
but rather incompatibility of union, as in the iron and 
potter's clay of the ancient image. 

But, as the success attendant on this underhand 
method, fell short of answering the end intended, a 
still more zealous and determinate character is re- 
solved to be assumed. There is so much of common 
sense and common justice in every breast, as to create 
a suspicion of misrepresentation, when an adversary 
advances a charge, however glaring. The unpreju- 
diced, however, are justly inclined to suppose, that 



24 ACCOUNT OP A PUBLIC DEBATE. 

interested statements may not be very correct in every 
particular and degree. Finding, therefore, that his 
private misrepresentations of the doctrines and disci- 
pline of the Methodist Church did not gain all the 
credit he expected, he laid aside the character of a 
secret opponent, and assumed a more public one, 
namely, that of an open champion and challenger. 
One of his first daring summons to open contest Mr. 
Pelton sent to the Methodist ministers of Haverstraw. 
Those persons being men of peace, and so deeply and 
constantly engaged in the more useful and glorious 
work of preaching the everlasting Gospel, paid no 
attention to the challenge of Mr. Pelton ; knowing that 
Christ did not send them so much to a challenge, or 
answer challenges to public combat, as to preach the 
great and saving truths of the Gospel. 

This silence as to his challenge, was assumed by 
Mr. Pelton, and even published by him. as a sort of 
acknowledgment on the side of the Methodist minis- 
ters, that their principles and system of discipline were 
incapable of defence. He therefore became the more 
strenuous in unveiling the imposture, (as he termed it) 
and magnifying the delusion, which he attributed to 
the Methodists. Instead of employing calm, rational, 
convincing, or demonstrative arguments, to scatter the 
mists which he imagined he could discern, insinuation, 
ridicule, sly suspicion, and unfounded charges, were 
the carnal weapons employed on the occasion. 

It having been my lot to visit Haverstraw, and being 
called on to preach there, Mr. Pelton thought well to 
include me also (though a perfect stranger to him) in 
the number of public antagonists, and constituted me 
one by sending me a challenge also. Though a man of 
peace, and by no means fond of noise or tumult, yet 
being solicited strenuously, I allowed myself to be pre- 
vailed on to accept of the challenge. To a person of 
quiet and silent disposition, controversy is rather an 
irksome and unpleasant work. It has sometimes hap- 
pened that very good men may be unintentionally and 
unavoidably engaged in the necessary, though unplea- 
sant work of religious controversy. If their heads be 



ACCOUNT OF A PUBLIC DEBATE. 25 

clear and cool, while their hearts are devoted and sin- 
cere, preserving an entire possession of their temper 
and sentiments, in that warm kind of service, they may 
do considerable service to the cause of truth, by dissi- 
pating the clouds of error, and diffusing the clearest 
light of the Gospel. 

Prevailed on to accept Mr. Pelton's challenge, and 
to meet him on Monday morning, the 2d April, 1821, 
three persons were chosen to act as moderators, and 
four persons who were to take notes of the conversa- 
tion. The time for debate was limited to four hours ; 
that is, to two hours in the forenoon, namely, from ten 
till twelve o'clock, and two hours in the afternoon, 
that is, from two till four o'clock. 

As Mr. Pelton had previously gone about publish- 
ing that he was some great personage, and that no 
Methodist minister could stand before him, I thought 
it not inconsistent with the duty which I owed the cause 
in which he had involved me by his challenge, to 
sound him a little on the solidity of his high preten- 
sions, before we came to the ground, or began the con- 
troversy. Accordingly, when we first met, and were 
introduced to each other by our respective friends, I 
addressed him in a Hebrew sentence quoted from the 
first book of Moses. He showing apparent astonish- 
ment, and not being able to guess what I meant or 
said, I continued the use of the unknown tongues by 
another quotation from the Iliad of Homer: being una- 
ble to reply, I addressed him in another from the JEneid 
of Virgil. By this time he recovered a little breath, 
and told me that our debate w r as not to be about lan- 
guage or science, but about the doctrines of the Metho- 
dists. Accordingly I assented, and we proceeded to 
the appointed spot. 

Mr. Pelton has since published, what he calls the 
substance of our debate ; together w 7 ith the most un- 
friendly and unfounded remarks on what he takes the 
liberty to term " The Absurdities of Methodism." It 
is a fact too evident to very shallow observation, that 
if blood be once drawn in a controversy, it will not be 
a very easy thing for a zealous antagonist to recover the 
3 



26 ACCOUNT OF A PUBLIC DEBATE. 

coolness of immoveable temper afterward. One coiv 
trovertist will run the hazard of being so wrapped up 
in the subject of debate, as to be found in the horrid 
act of striking his fellow-servants, even at the eventful 
hour of his Lord's coming. How much better would 
it be to strengthen the things which jet remain, and 
which are ready to die, unless the hand of constant 
attention be engaged in the good work of their support ? 

It is rather a little curious, that Mr. Pelton, instead 
of confining himself to an innocent and useful emplo}'- 
ment of his time and labours, by exhorting his friends 
to make their calling and election sure, and from which 
some good might have resulted to a plain and private 
congregation, should be so haughtily confident as to 
undertake the province of a writer and a critic, to 
descant on such topics as are only fit for the pens of 
the most erudite. But, alas ! the salvation of the 
elect (according to the system of inevitable decrees,) 
is looked on as secure already as the pillars of heaven r 
According to this plan, there is no fear of any branch 
becoming withered, which happened at any one time 
to be united to the living vine. Without harbouring 
the least degree of uncharitable detraction, I can hard- 
ly help pronouncing, that Mr. Pelton's views are too 
dim, and his attainments in scriptural and theological 
knowledge too scanty, to give him a just right to the 
authority which he assumes of uttering decisively, as 
a dictator, or judge, on many of those deep and mys- 
terious subjects, which he undertakes to settle by an 
emphatic yea or nay, in a moment, to the annihilation 
of reason and common sense. 

The sources of false reasoning are sometimes found, 
not only in that side of a subject to which we attach 
ourselves, but are very often in the advocates of those 
systems, who imagine themselves to be something of 
prime importance, when in reality they are nothing. 
The first productions of an author are too apt to be 
very far-fetched. His impatient mind, on the stretch, 
is bent on making continual efforts, but all out of the 
path of sober inquiry, or cool and deliberate research. 
He is suddenly caught with the swollen but unfounded 
confidence, of being able to touch the sky from the 



ACCOUNT OF A PUBLIC DEBATE. 21 

summit of some high hiH. Whereas, were mature 
experience to ascend to the summit of an iEtna, or the 
highest ridges of the towering Andes, it would find 
that those conclusions were drawn from mere appear- 
ances, too hastily transformed into facts, and magnified 
to immense realities. 

It is matter of no small regret, that principles of a 
special kind are not laid down by Mr. Pelton, to guide 
him in something like a true estimate of the doctrines 
of the Methodists. He is constantly shifting, and sli- 
ding, and veering, between the Arminian and Caivinist, 
as he finds the strong holds tenable. The latent cause 
of every movement of the human soul, when sought 
out, whether it be good or bad, is by him at one time 
resolved into unavoidable fate or absolute predestina- 
tion, and at another time into the irresistible influence 
of the grace of God, or the insinuations of the spiritual 
adversary, who, according to Mr. Pelton, foolishly 
goes about, seeking whom he may devour, when he 
clearly knows beforehand, that the elect cannot be 
lost, or the reprobated be saved. 

Having carefully read Mr. Pelton's controversial 
volume of u Absurdities, 55 though I cannot attribute 
the entire production to his pen, I think it my duty to 
show that the writers of the piece, however zealous 
they may be, have no high claims to sound reasoning, 
or clear understanding of Scripture context. I am 
sorry to say, that they do not plainly appear to possess 
any great command of temper, or of that charity which 
thinketh no evil. Their style also is neither the 
smooth and pleasing, nor the manly and nervou?. 
Though in this their first production, their talents may 
have been exerted to the utmost ; having a full year 
and upwards to revise, file, correct, and strengthen it 
against all objections ; yet it has neither a sound and 
solid foundation, nor a sightly and commanding super- 
structure. 

As no person has shown directly, through the me- 
dium of the press, the numerous and unguarded falla- 
cies of Mr. Pelton 5 s book of jargon ; how unfounded 
his charges are which he produces against the doc- 



28 ACCOUNT OF A PUBLIC DEBATE. 

trines and discipline of the Methodists ; and how uc 
sound and unscriptural his arguments are in support 
of those charges, a sort of necessity is laid upon me, 
not only to refute Mr. Pelton's charges, but also to 
furnish those persons who sincerely desire to know the 
truth, or to be confirmed in it, with an accurate state- 
ment of the principles and discipline of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, as well as an antidote against that 
deadly mixture of misrepresentation d calumny, 
which, when sent abroad, under the character of truth, 
is but too apt to diffuse itself among the feeble and ig- 
norant, however sincere. 

It may be justly inquired, whether the principles 
broached in Mr. Pelton's book be not highly dangerous 
to pure and genuine Christianity. As the writer pro- 
fesses to be a Christian, the unguarded reader unsus- 
piciously takes up his production, and not apprehend- 
ing a dangerous snake in the grass, he is led by gentle 
degrees of apparent, yet unsolid reasoning, to the doc- 
trines of unconditional election, and its twin sister, un- 
conditional reprobation. What adds to the deception 
is, a text of Scripture quoted without any regard to 
the context, in order to prove it to be a scriptural doc- 
trine. The reader is apprehensive of no harm from 
an apparent explanation of Scripture. But that even 
the sacred records and doctrines may be applied to a 
wrong and evil purpose, we need go no farther than 
the application of Scripture truths and facts to the 
temptation of Christ in the wilderness, by Satan, 
transformed into an angel of light, and affecting to be 
a vindicator of Scripture truth. 

Though the superficial objections of Mr. Pelton's 
a Absurdities" may be easily seen through by persons 
of clear discernment, and unbiassed impartiality ; yet, 
among the shallow and unthinking, where also Mr. 
Peltonhas caused his book to be circulated, and where 
the lines and shades which divide between appearance 
and reality are not so easily distinguished, provision 
ought to be made for removing the mist of misrepre- 
sentation, and for showing the genuine truths and doc- 



ACCOUNT OF A PUBLIC DEBATE. 29 

trines of the Gospel, in their proper and native 
colours, 

The " vilified Methodism" of Mr. Pelton's brush, 
dipped in defamation, is no more the native picture of 
genuine Methodism, than the figure in which Christ 
was made to appear at his trial, formed the general 
outlines of his fair and humble character and demea- 
nour. Justice and candour have been not unfrequently 
laid aside, as shall be proved in the following remarks 
on Mr. Pelton's " Absurdities." Defect and perver- 
sion seem justly imputable, not only to the intention of 
the writers, but to their utter want of qualification for 
such an undertaking. The subject was indeed too 
deep for the penetration, as well as too high for the 
groveling capacities of the writers, who ventured be- 
yond their lines into a boundless ocean, without a map, 
a compass, a quadrant, or telescope, to direct their 
first coasting voyage. 

But, notwithstanding the shallowness, or even the 
emptiness of Mr. Pelton's "Absurdities," we are not 
to forget, that, to the vacant or inexperienced eye, a 
little tinsel may sometimes appear very fine, and a 
little goldleaf puts on the aspect of real solidity. 
When these pretensions shall be put to the test, and 
weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, 1 hope they 
will appear to the unprejudiced reader to be lighter 
than vanity, or even nothing itself. Though panegyric 
ought not to be expected from Mr. Pelton and his as- 
sociates in defamation, yet justice and equity are fair 
demands, even on the most inveterate and determined 
antagonists. Where defect or perversion are the 
leading features, or where the picture is wilfully dis- 
torted, 1 fear that even Charity itself must pronounce 
not only an unfitness in the painter, but impute to him 
no small degree of evil intention. When a person can 
bring himself without much inward disturbance of 
conscience to taint the purest writers, and then boast 
of his having employed such discriminating methods as 
have discovered their impurity, he can hardly escape 
the just imputation of evil design. 

Had Mr. Pelton and his associates been mere ae- 
3* 



30 ACCOUNT OF A PUBLIC DEBATE. 

quainted with the context and harmony of Scripture, as 
well as with the necessary influence of doctrines and 
discipline upon the hearts and lives of men, their work, 
by carrying some evidence on the face of it, would 
have borne a more decided character. As it stands 
now in scraps and fragments, it must appear to every 
candid judge to be distorted with inconsistencies, and 
teeming with sentiments, which, while they are advan- 
ced in favour of the inevitable decree, utterly under- 
mine and demolish it, as well as destroy each other. 
To undertake to assert, that no man can in any one 
particular be any thing else than what he is, which he 
then is, necessarily and unavoidably — that man, so cir- 
cumstanced, has no more freedom of will than a block 
of wood or of stone — that God predetermines unavoid- 
ably to an act that cannot be forborne or declined — that 
the just and righteous Judge of heaven and earth can 
blame a person for acting under the immutable decrees 
of rigid and unchangeable fate — that he can make a 
sincere and candid offer of mercy and grace, and yet 
with all integrity and consistency of character have, 
previously and irresistibly determined the minds of 
the persons to whom the offer is made to reject it. 
To blame a person for being ignorant of what was 
totally beyond the possibility of being known by him ; 
or for not undertaking and accomplishing what was 
altogether beyond the application of the united ener- 
gies of all the powers he possessed, is a character, or 
conduct which can only be applied to unjust tyranny, 
and not to just and righteous government. Let the 
vilest offender against heaven and earth be but clearly 
and deeply convinced that he has only done what was 
irresistibly forced upon him by an omnipotent arm, 
and an irresistible decree, and his conscience must 
from that moment be completely eased of the intolera- 
ble load or mountain of personal guilt, and all the cla- 
mours of consequent accusation. 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 



Having arrived at the spot, where all necessarv 
preparations had been previously adjusted, and taken 
our stations, at such a distance as to be conveniently 
heard, not only by ourselves, but by several hundred 
persons, of different denominations, who came to hear 
ibr themselves, it being my lot to question Mr. Pel- 
ton from ten till twelve o'clock, the first question 
which I put to him for plain solution, was, 

Question 1. What is a Condiiion ? 

Mr. Pelton not being able or willing to risk an answer 
to this first question, called aloud to some of his friends 
for the assistance of Walker's Dictionary. Seeing this 
subterfuge resorted to, 1 renewed a demand for an im- 
mediate answer to the question proposed. But this de- 
mand made and repeated, only proved that Mr. Pelton 
knew not what to reply, or feared to hazard a plain an- 
swer to a plain question. In consequence of this, 
after some research in Walker's Dictionary, he pro- 
duced five different meanings, and left to me and the 
audience to make our choice of the one which corres- 
ponded with the word in question. It is rather some- 
what surprising, that a person who could presume to 
attack the doctrines of Methodism by a blind and il- 
liberal violence; assailing its discipline, confuting its 
principles, and exhibiting the entire economy, at one 
time, as an object of ridicule, and at another of appre- 
hension or alarm, sbould, when called on to answer a 
plain question, show, that he had no great fund of ne- 
cessary knowledge laid up in reserve ; but like the 
foolish virgins of old, go about to borrow or beg, in 
©rder to make up the deficiency. 



32 SUBSTAN6E OF DEBATE, 

Quest. 2. Does not the sincere advancement of a 
condition between God and man, about to engage in 
covenant, or already engaged in it, imply on the side 
of man, a sufficient measure of knowledge to know it, 
as well as a sufficiency of power to comply with its ne- 
cessary requisitions ? Can a covenant, of the conditions 
of which man is altogether ignorant, be binding on him ? 
Or is he bound to perform that, for which he has not 
a sufficiency of power ? 

Mr. Pelton, instead of answering the question di- 
rectly, as applicative to the condition of a covenant 
between God and man, only began to raise a dust and 
beat the air, responding altogether wide of the ques- 
tion. His irrelative answer was (page 17th of his 
book, and reply to question 2d) " When a covenant is 
made between two individuals, this is the case." By 
two individuals, he here intends that two men should 
be understood. He adds, " And also in the covenant 
made between the Father and the Son." Now I call 
on the candid and impartial reader to judge, and de- 
clare, whether Mr. Pelton gave a plain, direct answer 
to the question proposed, and whether his inability on 
the one hand, or obliquity on the other, was not the 
true cause of such an answer. I refer every unpre- 
judiced person, not only to the sure word of prophecy, 
but to his own feelings, to make him sure that he is in 
covenant with GocK and a free agent. Every reflecting 
man must feel a very keen consciousness of having done 
those things which he ought not to have done, and 
which he had power to forbear, and not to do ; as well 
as a sufficiency of knowledge to know that they were 
evil and forbidden, and therefore to be avoided. He 
juist feel likewise that he has left undone those things 
which he ought to have done, and which he had the 
power to do, as well as a conscious sense of their being 
his duty. While he feels his conscience accusing him 
in some instances, and excusing him in others, (which 
is the apostle's language, and his proof of the know- 
ledge and guilt even of the heathen, who had no reve- 
lation) he can no more doubt of his being a free agent. 
than he can of his own existence. And while he feel* 



SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 33 

this sensation within him, all objections to free agency 
must vanish. To exemplify this to Mr. Pelton and 
the audience, I put the following inquiry — 

Quest. 3. Did not Adam, ourgreat ancestor, know the 
forbidden fruit, and had he not power to comply with 
the terms of the covenant, into which it pleased God to 
enter with him, by a total abstinence from what was 
prohibited ? 

Mr. Pelton's Answer. — He did know the evil, and 
he had power to abstain from it. 

Now if a person possess both knowledge and power 
in that degree, and to that amount, which comprises a 
complete sufficiency, what then becomes of the doc- 
trine of absolute fate, or inevitable predestination, as 
to the free actions of men ? We cannot conceive of 
any plan on which they can possibly coexist. We 
cannot possibly imagine how a just and holy God, can 
punish sinners as a righteous judge, or how they can 
feel anguish or remorse of conscience, if they come 
to know that they are necessarily determined, and se- 
cretly, yet irresistibly, compelled by Omnipotence it- 
self, to do as they did. In this Mr. Pelton answered 
rightly ; but altogether at variance with the Calvinistic 
system, which looks on absolute predetermination, ac- 
cording to the common use of that word, as the standard 
of Calvinism ; or as strong a pillar in the fabric as 
Jachin or Boaz. 

Quest. 4. When God made a covenant with Cain, or 
an offer of the terms on which he would accept of 
him and his worship, did not Cain know the condition, 
and had he not power to comply with it? 

Answer. God never made any covenant with Cain 
that I know. 

I again appeal to the unbiassed reader, whether the 
conversation which God was pleased to hold with Cain^ 
was not designed as a gracious promise, that though he 
had miscarried in a former instance, yet his case was 
not desperate, as the means of succeeding were yet in 
his power, and a victim proper for a sin-offering was 
lying at the door of his fold. The conversation was 
designed as a gracious warning also, and as a preventive 



34 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

to sudden passion or meditated crime. " If thou doest 
well, shalt thou not be accepted ?" must certainly ex- 
press, as well as imply, a fair and gracious offer of 
mercy, on terms not impossible. 

Quest. 5. Does not the particle " If," in the offer 
which God made to Cain, when he told him. Gen. iv. 7, 
that " if he did well he should be accepted," imply a 
covenant, condition, or stipulation, which showed the 
case in question was not absolutely predetermined by 
any former decree ? 

Ans. The word 4< If" implies a condition, but not a 
covenant of grace with Cain, but of works, which binds 
all the children of Adam. If thou transgress or doest 
not well, sin lieth at thy door. Cain was a sinner, 
and God addressed him on the covenant of works. 

I call on the reader to judge, if this jumble be a fair 
answer, and commensurate with the question proposed. 
The whole scheme of revealed religion, which address- 
es us as guilty creatures, depends upon this, or is 
joined to it, by a very strong connexion. For where 
there is no free agency, or power given to, or possess- 
ed by man, to act otherwise than he does, I cannot 
see how he can be chargeable with guilt, any more 
than a piece of dead matter acted upon. That Cain 
was conscious of being under the influence of free 
agency in doing what he ought not to do, as to the crime 
of fratricide, is glaringly evident. He felt himself 
expelled from the presence of God, in the comfortable 
sense of that term, without a fixed residence any 
where, his crime apprehended to be too great to be 
forgiven, on the awful verge of black despair, and 
without any well-grounded hope that God would for- 
give his sin, or remit the punishment he deserved. 
No state out of endless perdition can be considered 
more awful than this frame of mind. Whereas, could 
he but be certain that he was put to, and urged upon 
all this, by the energies of an irresistible power, his 
guilt must retire, and his accusing conscience cease its 
unjust accusations. 

To Mr. Pelton's reply, I rejoined— The offer which 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 33 

God made to Cain was a present one — " If thou doest 
well (now) shalt thou not be accepted," as well as Abel 
thy brother, and therefore meant all that is expressed, 
namely, a fair, open condition, which presupposes a 
sufficiency of ability in the person to whom the offer 
is made. 

To this Mr. Pelton replied—" But Cain did not do 
well : for in order to do well, he must have had faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ." See page 18 of his book. 

To this I rejoined — Cain never heard of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. There were several dispensations, or 
manifestations of the goodness of God to men, as the 
Adamic, Patriarchal, Mosaic, Prophetic, Baptistic, and 
Christian dispensations. Those dispensations had some- 
thing peculiar to each, as well as common to all. A 
man born under the Jewish dispensation is not to be 
judged by the Christian law. Cain did not exist under 
the Christian dispensation, and therefore is not to be 
considered as accountable for any thing peculiar to it, 
but for what it pleased God to manifest to the period 
and economy under which he lived. But to be as par- 
ticular as possible on this interesting subject, I in- 
quired, 

Quest. 6. If a person be born under one dispensa- 
tion, is he to be judged by the laws of another, which 
may happen to exceed the former in spirituality, and 
comprehension of duty and privilege ? 
. To this question Mr. Pelton answered — There is 
no other name given among men whereby we can be 
saved but the name of Jesus : neither is there salva- 
tion in any other name, nor ever has been. This was 
implied in the promise originally. 

Surely, this answer must appear to every candid 
judge to be quite indecisive, as to the question. Though 
God does certainly accept of the persons of all real 
penitents through the all-atoning sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ our great advocate, yet he will certainly deal 
with every man according to the knowledge and capa- 
city he possessed, as well as the time when, place 
where, and means afforded, of improving his talents 
in the great Master's employ. He will expect and re- 



36 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

quire more from the steward or servant who had a de- 
posit of five talents lodged with him, than from his fel- 
low-servant of two talents trust ; and consequently de- 
mand more from the well-instructed Christian, walking 
in the clear sunshine of the Gospel dispensation, than 
from a barbarian or heathen, who may with all propri 
ety be said to be still walking in darkness and the sha 
dow of death — To show that God's decrees or threat 
enings, as the providential ruler of the world, are no 
always, and in every particular, irreversible, but tha 
they sometimes are constituted so as to admit of ex 
ception, escape, or mitigation, I asked him, 

Quest. 7. Was the threatening with which God was 
pleased to guard the covenant he made with Adam, ab- 
solutely and in every particular executed in the day 
of his violation of that condition ? 

Mr. Pelton answered—Yes, Sir ; that death is what 
is called in Revelation, (the Revelation of St. John,) 
the second death : or what may be termed a cessation 
of appropriate action. Man having sinned, the gra- 
cious presence of God departed from his soul, and he 
became dead in trespasses and sins. 

I again call on the serious and well-instructed reader 
to judge, whether Mr. Pelton's answer can possibly be 
stretched to comprehend the extent of the threatening ? 
The body of Adam was as really concerned and im- 
plicated, as his soul, in the threatening of death. 
Hence we are universally instructed to know and la- 
ment, that by sin came death and all its connexions 
and consequences into the world. Besides this, the 
second death, mentioned in the book of Revelation, 
is rather the punishment of guilt, than guilt itself. It 
is the fire that is never extinguished, rather than the 
worm that never dies. It is the effect and conse- 
quence ; but not the origin and cause. To make this 
still plainer to the audience, I asked Mr. Pelton, 

Quest. 8. Does not human action, in the present 
state of probation, imply a body as well as a soul ? 

His answer was rather of a curious complexion, 
namely — Man died a spiritual death, at once, and be- 
came subject to a temporal death afterward. 



\ 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE* 31 

How Mr. Pelton could make such an irrelative an* 
swer to so plain a question, and at the same time snatch 
the public advocacy of a cause, from hands far better 
qualified for such a task, is rather odd, and difficult of 
solution. In his publication, he afterward acknow- 
ledges in a note, page 19, 4; Some of these answers I 
might have given differently, if I had time to delibe- 
rate ; because many human actions for which man is 
accountable, consist in thought, and do not imply a 
body. But I must now record them as they were de- 
livered on the spur of the occasion. I made no fatal 
blunder" Surely, a total want of connexion, or re- 
lation, between the question and answer, must be con- 
sidered as a ridiculous blunder. 

Quest. 9. Is not the punishment of Adam expressed 
by the terms "In the day that thou eatest thereof 
thou shalt surely die ?" 

Mr. PeJton's Answer. — He did die both deaths at 
once: he instantly fell into spiritual death, and be 
came mortal. 

Though this answer be incorrect, and restricted, yet 
it affords no small or indirect allowance, that the first 
precept which God gave to man, was given as a fair, 
impartial test of obedience, and as a proof of his being 
in a dependent and probationary state. It was neces- 
sary that while constituted Lord of this lower world, 
he should know that he was only God's vicegerent, 
and must therefore be accountable to him, for the pro- 
per use of his mental and corporeal powers, and for 
the use he made of the different creatures put under 
his care. The man from whose mind the strong im- 
pression of this dependence and responsibility is erased . 
necessarily loses sight of his origin and end, and be- 
comes capable of any species of wickedness. As 
God is Sovereign, he has a right to give his creatures 
what commands he thinks proper. An intelligent crea- 
ture without a law to regulate his conduct, is an absur- 
dity. This rule God gives ; and it is no matter of 
what kind it is, so long as obedience to it is not beyond 
the powers of the creature who is to obey. It is evi- 
dent, therefore, that where a command is given, and a 

4 



3S SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

threatening, or punishment denounced, a previons de 
'cree gently leading or forcibly compelling to the act, 
must be altogether inconsistent with the conduct of a 
just and holy God. 

To show that we are not to separate a text or single 
passage, (however apparently favourable to our side 
of the question,) from the context, or general connex- 
ion, is very evident to a serious and judicious reader, 
from Gen. vi. 14, where terms of universality are to 
be considered as admitting of exceptions. I asked him, 

Quest. 10. Whether God's decree — " The* end of 
ill flesh is come before me, ' ? however universally ex- 
pressed, included all mankind ; or whether in reality 
it did not admit of exception ? 

Ans. To this he openly acknowledged — Yes, Sir; 
there is an exception ; we read that " Noah and his 
family found favour in the eyes of the Lord." 

Can Mr. Pelton show any part of this peculiar fa* 
vour which was shown to Noah and his family, con- 
tained in, or expressed by the decree, "The end of 
all flesh is come before me ?" He must have recourse 
to the context and connexion. Besides, that all the 
men of that period might escape as well as Noah and 
his family, is evident from the clear declarations of the 
sacred word. It informs us that the long-suffering of 
God waited in the days of Noah, for the space of one 
hundred and twenty years, while the ark was in prepa- 
ration — that Noah, was not only a righteous man, but a 
preacher of righteousness under the inspiration, ener- 
gy, and authority of the divine Spirit. That he 
preached the necessity and possibility of repenting, 
and so of escaping the approaching judgment of God, 
to the inhabitants of the old world. Their punish- 
ment was delayed, to see if they would repent ; and 
the long-suffering of God waited for no less a space of 
repentance than one hundred and twenty years, which 
were mercifully granted them for this purpose, during 
which time they are represented as detained under the 
arrest of divine justice, which waited either for their 
repentance, or the expiration of the respite, in which 
the punishment pronounced might be inflicted. 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 39 

Qjiest. 11. Is it God that excepts Noah in the de- 
cree as expressed, namely, " The end of all flesh is 
come before me," or is it Moses, as a divine historian, 
that excepts him, in the course and context of the 
history ? 

Ans. All Scripture is given by the inspiration of 
God the Holy Ghost. 

Whether this reply be a fair comprehension of the 
question, or a fair explication of it, I need hardly ap- 
peal to the ingenuous and candid reader, for impar- 
tial decision : whether it is not a hasty production, 
and betraying an entire want of consideration. There 
is the greatest danger of scattering circumstances, 
which God requires to be united. Nothing but truth 
can preserve consistency. Noah and his family found 
favour with God : and others might have found equal 
favour if they had accepted of the offer of mercy 
which the long-suffering of God waited to confirm. 
This great truth we collect, not only here, but in 
many other places. 

Quest. 12. Did God give the promise of deliverance 
to Noah, at the instant of time that he pronounced the 
apparently destructive decree .? 

Ans. He commanded Noah to build the ark, and af- 
terward directed Moses to write the fact. 

To the candid reader or judge, this answer also 
must appear quite wide of the question, and therefore 
no direct or proper answer. Though the world was 
grown so foul with sin, as to require that God should 
wash it with a flood ; and though wickedness had 
grown to such a pitch of rank effrontery to God, that 
he needed not have given them any warning of his 
approaching judgment ; yet that he might approve his 
mercy to the very wicked, he gave them time to repent, 
How loath is God to strike the awful blow, even where 
it has been long deserved ? A being who delights in 
revenge, surprises his adversary unawares. He who 
gives long warnings desires a prevention of the evil. 
Nor was it time alone that God gave, but a faithful 
teacher also. His character taught them, for he was 
a righteous man. His hand taught them as much a* 



10 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

his tongue. His work of building the ark was a real 
summons to the world. 

Quest. 13. When the guests of Lot had discovered 
themselves to be angels, did they advise Lot to make a 
fair offer of escape from the approaching judgment 
which overwhelmed that city to his sons-in-law, who 
had already, or were afterward, to marry his daugh- 
ters ? 

Ans. Yes, Sir. 

If so, what becomes of the impassible decree ? Lot 
was no firm believer in impassible decrees, at the time 
when offers of mercy are freely made by the lip of 
truth. Though sought for by the Sodomites, and pulled 
into his house by the angels, he hazarded his life in 
compliance with the divine permission, to go in quest 
of those persons. No good man wishes to be saved 
alone. Faith makes us charitable, even where charity 
is connected with danger. Lot warned them as a pro- 
phet, and advised them as a father ; showing in both 
characters, that he meant what he said, and that the 
thing might be complied with. As in the case of Noah, 
a decree apparently comprehensive of Cfc all flesh," 
inight admit of an exception ; and if so, disprove the 
awful doctrine of an irreversible predestination either 
to sin or punishment ; so in the case of Lot, the freest 
offers are made, and the acceptance of the terms left 
to the fairest choice of the persons to whom the offers 
were made. The supposition, or doctrine of irrever- 
sible sin, and then of irreversible punishment, is ab- 
surd, and contrary to all our just ideas of God, and 
the characters given of him in his holy word. We 
cannot possibly see how God can be the moral govern- 
or of the world, and as the righteous judge of the 
earth, do rightly, if his moral creatures cannot do 
otherwise, in any one particular, than as they do. But 
to make this matter still plainer, I asked, 

Quest. 14. If the angels commissioned Lot to make 
an offer of deliverance to his sons-in-law ; and if he 
faithfully executed the divine commission, whose fault 
was it that they did not accept of the offer, and em- 
brace the opportunity ? 



SUBSTANCE OF DELATE, 41 

Ans. Their own: but that they should refuse was 
nevertheless decreed from the foundation of the 
world. 

Now I call on every candid reader to judge, if link- 
ing a decree that cannot be reversed, with a fair, open 
opportunity, and possibility of escape, be not a dread- 
ful, as well as unnatural union of absolute incompati- 
bles. With such an easy answer can Mr. Pelton pre- 
sume to unite into a most consistent reconciliation, the 
irreconcileables of free-will and absolute fate. It must 
surely appear to every unprejudiced reader of the 
word, that those young men, being considered as a part 
of Lot's family, and entitled on this account to God's 
protection, did not escape the perdition of Sodom, be- 
cause they received not the solemn warning, or because 
they considered it as a ridiculous tale, the creature of 
Lot's invention, or the offspring of his fear. On this 
ground they made no provision for their escape, and sc 
perished, notwithstanding the sincerely offered favour 
in the perdition that fell on this ungodly city. To 
make it still plainer, I asked, 

Quest. 15. Could God absolutely and everlastingly 
decree, the overwhelming of those sons-in-law of Lot, 
in the conflagration of Sodom, and then make them a 
sincere offer of deliverance, which he previously de- 
creed should be rejected by them ? 

Ans. Fes, Sir. 

Such are the awful extremes of irreconcileableness. 
to which the system of absolute and universal necessity 
subjects its votaries. To choose or decree the persons 
or agents who are to do evil, and then, the sins which 
they are to commit, and which they cannot possibly 
avoid, in all their kind, degrees, and measures ; while 
he, at the same time, persuades and induces to a con- 
trary conduct by every possible reason of duty, privi- 
lege, or necessity ; assuring, declaring, and even so- 
lemnly swearing that he has no pleasure in the death of 
sinners, but that his will concerning them comprises 
their sanctification here, and their eternal salvation 
hereafter, are downright incompatibles, and irrecon* 
4* 



43 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE, 

cileable with the principles of reason, scripture, ox 
common sense. 

Quest. 16. How could God be sincere in his offers 
of deliverance to those sons-in-law, when he previously. 
and throughout the whole affair, so conducted and ma- 
naged the matter, as to allure and deceive them over to 
"he adoption of a contrary plan ? 

Ans. God, who knows all things, has so arranged his 
plans, that he knows from all eternity what they would 
do, and he left them to act voluntarily : but his know- 
ledge had no influence on their conduct. 

The veering and unstable plan on which Mr. Pelton 
ittempts to argue, must be glaringly evident to every 
reader of common discernment. In answer to ques- 
tion 14, he tells us that God had absolutely and un- 
changeably decreed the sin of Lot's sons-in-law. 
Therefore they could not possibly avoid, or evade the 
commission of it. In answer to question 15, he tells 
us, that God as unchangeably decreed their punishment. 
It was unavoidable, in consequence of an unchangeable 
decree. And now, in answer to question 16, he tells 
us, that those decrees had no influence on their wills, 
and that the whole act was voluntary, and free. Now 
to suppose an absolute decree which must be obeyed, 
and a freedom of will, which can choose for, or against 
it, must appear to the plainest capacity to be glaring 
contradictions. Not being able to wade through this 
horrible gulf, he thought it well to borrow some 
foreign support from the Westminster Confession of 
Faith, and so refreshed his memory by reading the 3d 
chapter of that work. 

Quest. 17. Does God foreordain and decree, abso- 
lutely and irreversibly, from the foundation of the 
world, every thing that happens without exception ? 

Ans. Instead of a plain answer, he turned again to 
the Westminster Confession of Faith, and read, that 
God, from all eternity, did ordain whatever comes to 
pass, without being the author of sin, or offering the 
least violence to the wills of his creatures. 

When a candid, unbiassed reader, meets with such 
scriptures as the following, he certainly must find it im- 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 43 

possible to reconcile them to any previous decree, 
which has undertaken to secure the eternal ruin of 
the individuals addressed, or treated of. Why will ye 
die, O house of Israeli How often would I have ga- 
thered thy children, as a hen gathers her chickens un- 
der her wings, but ye would not ? — Ye will not come to 
me that ye may have life — As I live, saith the Lord, I 
have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth. Turn 
ye ; turn ye — God is not willing that any should perish 
—•What more could I have done for my vineyard ? 
After these and a great many declarations of the same 
sort, which God is acknowledged to make, in the plain, 
obvious, true, and sincere sense of the words, what 
must the reader think of a system that sets forth the 
Most High as dooming and decreeing irresistibly, and 
then alarming, and threatening, and punishing men 5 for 
accomplishing, as his agents, the necessary and unavoid- 
able task, which his almighty power forced upon them ? 

Quest. 18. Can you possibly reconcile an irreversi- 
ble decree of God, relative to a certain man commit- 
ting murder, (and which he must consequently commit) 
with a freedom of mind or will in that individual, suf- 
fering no violence from the influence of such a decree, 
that must be necessarily fulfilled by him, God having 
undertaken such an event by his agency ? 

Ans. Yes, Sir. We will suppose Cain, or Judas, or 
any other wicked man you please to name. We will 
take Judas for an instance, and place him here on 
earth, and give him all the liberty of action you choose 
to name: he is active and will do something ; and 
those actions may be regulated according to his own 
free-will ; he is perfectly voluntary in all he does. He 
has neither compulsion nor restraint. And at the same 
time God knows from the beginning all his actions, both 
good and bad, and that with a perfect certainty so as to 
record them in a book ; and they, in time, would come 
to pass just as they were recorded. Those actions, 
would therefore be certain with God from the founda- 
tion of the world. To this I answer, 

Abraham does not seem to have the least idea of 
such a decree as binds men over absolutelv to sin and 



44 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE* 

punishment. His great question at the threatened de - 
struction of Sodom was, u Wilt thou destroy the righte 
ous with the wicked ? Shall not the Judge of all the 
earth do right? He even reasons the case from fifty 
persons down to ten ; and while he continued to plead, 
the presence of God, and his favourahle answer, con- 
tinued with him. Nor does God cease to promise to 
show mercy, till Ahraham ceases to intercede. Lot 
does not seem to be a firm believer in absolute de- 
crees. He continued lingering, probably in affectionate 
entreaties, to prevail on there maining parts of his fa- 
mily to escape from the destruction which was about 
to descend. Even when desired to escape for his life 
to the mountain, he could allow himself to plead for 
permission to take up his residence in Zoar, or Bela. 
though one of the wicked cities of the plain, and con- 
demned also ; which request he obtained. It being a 
little city, it was less depraved than Sodom and Go- 
morrah, and therefore not so ripe for punishment. 
The answer to his prayer was, "See, I have accepted 
thee." 

Our ignorance of an inevitable decree which must 
come to pass, can be no prevention to its accomplish- 
ment. If the Sovereign will of the Omniscient and 
Omnipotent God should contrive, design, and order 
that it must positively happen, and that it cannot be 
either resisted or evaded, whether we be in or out of 
the irresistible secret, we, as moral creatures, and ut- 
terly unable to resist the determination of an infinite 
mind and almighty arm, combined in the plan of our de- 
struction, even through our own instrumentality, which 
he can work up to any pitch necessary to accomplish 
this his purpose, are as innocent of the evils commit- 
ted, and connected with this irresistible and unavoida- 
ble agency, as the sword is of the deadly thrust, the 
fire of the conflagration in which a human hand em- 
ploys it, the poison of the mortal corrosion, or the axe 
of the swing of decapitation. When we constantly 
read of the ruin of sinners charged upon themselves ; 
and of God, the good, the just, the holy, the merciful, 
the patient, and long-suffering, beseeching, exhorting. 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE* 45 

entreating, and even threatening, in case of our ad- 
vance or continuing in evil, for which he will certainly 
judge and reward accordingly, at a period that shall try 
the integrity of all mankind, what idea can we have of 
God making those declarations, if men be not possessed 
of power or liberty to choose, to reflect, and to attach 
themselves to that which is right and good ? 

Quest. 19. Can you draw the line of distinction be^ 
tween God's foreknowledge and an absolute decree ? 

Ans. That is for you to do. In my opinion they run 
parallel. All the attributes of God are in unison and 
harmony. 

Surely, as the question was put to Mr. Pelton,it was 
his province to answer it, and not mine. He might 
as well retort any other question which I put to him ? 
however imperfectly answered by him. Besides, in 
his partial reply, he links together under the same cha- 
racters, things which are entirely different ; namely, 
the foreknowledge and decrees of God, calling them 
both attributes, indiscriminately, which is a false view 
of the subject. 

With respect to the will of God, it is evident that 
God has ordained some things as absolutely certain, 
He has ordained other things as contingent. It would 
be absurd to say that the same thing can be contingent 
and absolutely certain. By absolutely certain we mean 
a thing which must necessarily be, in the order, time 9 
place, and form in which Divine wisdom has ordained 
it to be, and which cannot be otherwise, than as the 
infinite power has ordained. By contingent we mean 
such things as the infinite wisdom of God has thought 
proper to poise on the possibility of being, or not be- 
ing, leaving it to the will of intelligent beings to turn 
the scale. To deny this would be to involve the most 
palpable contradictions, and the most monstrous absur- 
dities. If there be no such thing as contingency in the 
world, then every thing is fixed and determined by an 
unalterable decree and purpose of God ; by which not 
only all free-agency is destroyed, but all agency of 
every kind, except that of the great Creator himself. 
For on this ground, God is the only operator either in 



i6 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

time or in eternity. All created beings, at that rate, 
are but mere instruments in the irresistible hand ot 
God, and do nothing but as actuated and impelled by 
this omnipotent and sole agent. Every act of every 
kind, must at this rate be attributed to God. For, it 
he have purposed them all, as absolutely certain, ha- 
ving nothing contingent in them, then he must be con- 
sidered as having ordained them to be so ; and if there 
be no contingency, then no free-agency, and God alone 
must be the sole actor of all that is done. Hence 
must follow the blasphemous doctrine and conclusion, 
that God is the irresistible, original, and sole author of 
all the sin and evil in the world. Hence must necessa- 
rily follow another conclusion, that as God, who is the 
author and promoter of all things that are, can do 
nothing wrong, whatever is must be right as it is 
brought about by him. On this false ground, sin is no 
more sin : a vicious action is no crime, if God be con- 
sidered as giving it the sanction of his irresistible de- 
cree, and as impelling the creature to the commission 
of it. On this ground, there can be no just punish- 
ment for delinquencies which could not be avoided. 
For if every thing be done as God has absolutely pre- 
determined it, and if his determination must be neces- 
sarily right ; then neither the instrument nor the agent 
must be considered as doing any thing wrong. On this 
dreadful ground, all vice and virtue, praise and blame, 
merit and demerit, guilt and innocence, are at one awful 
blow confounded beyond all distinction or difference. 
On the other hand, by allowing the scriptural and ra- 
tional doctrine of the contingency of human actions, 
(and it must be allowed, to shun the above absurdities 
and blasphemies) then we see every intelligent creature 
accountable for his own moral conduct, and for the use 
which he makes of the power with which God has en- 
dued him. To grant this consistently, we must also 
grant, that God decrees nothing as absolutely certain 
which he has made contingent ; and because he has de- 
signed it to be contingent, he cannot decree it as abso 
lutely certain. 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 47 

Quest. 20. How can the decrees of God, absolutely 
predetermining that a wicked act must be done, be re- 
conciled with his holiness, goodness, truth, justice, and 
mere}'. 

Ans. Cain acted in an evil manner, and God knew 
before he was born what he would do : Cain did not 
know it, and therefore he acted freely according to the 
impulse of his own will. And Judas betrayed his 
Master here upon earth : there was no violence offered 
to the will of that man. 

The question which I put to Mr. Pelton, was re= 
specting God's predetermining decree, impelling a man 
irresistibly to evil : and how such a decree could be 
reconciled with the moral attributes of God ; and his 
answers by evasion, substitute God's knowledge for his 
decree, and leave his moral attributes entirely unat- 
tended to. My opponent ought to prove, not only that 
the decree of God can irresistibly urge a man to the 
necessary commission of all sorts of evil, but that it 
actually does so, in perfect consistency with his moral 
attributes of goodness, truth, justice, and mercy. This 
he neither has done, nor is able to do : and so, his an- 
swer which shifts the question can neither be considered 
as begging nor solving the thing in dispute. 

Quest. 21. Can you point to any plain text of 
scripture which positively declares, that God decrees 
that any man must commit sin ? 

Ans. Yes, Sir. Acts ii. 23. " Him being delivered by 
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye 
have taken, and with wicked hands have crucified and 
slain." Again, Acts iv. 27. " For, of a truth against thy 
holy child Jesus, whom thou hadst anointed, both Herod 
and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people 
of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatever 
thv hand and tby counsel determined before to be 
done." 

Now with respect to Acts ii. 23. Him being deli- 
vered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge 
of God, Bishop Pearce paraphrases thus, " Him having 
been given forth, that is, sent into the world, and mani 



v~ 



43 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 



Tested by being made flesh, and dwelling amongyou, a^ 
it is said in John i. 14. and also iv. 28. 

Kypke contends that the word ' delivered' does not 
refer to God, but to Judas, the traitor. The Jews re- 
eived Jesus delivered up to them by Judas, the counsel 
of God so permitting. 

The determinate counsel of God means, that counsel 
which defined the time, place, and circumstance accord 
ing to his foreknowledge, which saw what time and place 
would be the most proper for his manifestation and 
crucifixion : so that there was nothing casual in these 
things, God having determined that the salvation of a 
lost world should be brought about in this way, and 
neither the Jews nor the Romans had any power here, 
but what was given them from above. Peter shows the 
Jews that it was not through Christ's weakness, or ina- 
bility to defend himself, that he was seized, nor merely 
through their malice that he was slain ; for God had 
determined from the foundation of the world to give his 
Son an offering for sin, Rev. xiii. 8. The treachery of 
Judas, and the malice of the Jews, became the incidental 
means, by which the great counsel of God was fulfil- 
led : the counsel of God intending the sacrifice, but 
never ordering that it should be brought about by such 
wretched means. This was permitted, but not decreed. 

With respect to Acts iv. 28, it is acknowledged thai 
there is a parenthesis in the 27th verse, not so clearly 
noticed by the common reader. The 27th verse should 
be read in connexion with the 2Cth, thus, " For of a 
?ruth against thy holy child Jesus whom thou hast 
anointed, (to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel 
determined before to be done,) both Herod and Pontius 
Pilate, with the Gentiles and people of Israel were 
gathered together." It is evident, that what God's hand 
and counsel determined before to be done, was not that 
which Herod, Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and 
people of Israel were in the act of doing ; for then 
their "rage and vain counsel,' 7 would be such as God 
himself had determined should take place, which is both 
impious and absurd. So far was this from being the 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 10 

oase 5 that it, is stated clearly that " These were gathered 
together to hinder" what God had before determined 
that his Christ, or Anointed, should perform : and thus 
the passage is undoubtedly to be understood. Had man, 
by any overpowering decree of God, been made pas- 
sive, as brute matter is, he would be rendered abso- 
lutely incapable of praise or blame, virtue or vice, 
reward or punishment. Whereas it is evident that man 
was created in a state wherein he might yield a volun- 
tary homage, and not a forced subjection. He is there- 
fore endowed with freedom of will, which is in a certain 
degree, the image of God in man, and which renders 
him as independent as is compatible with the nature of 
a created being in a state of probation. 

Quest. 22. If God by an irreversible decree had 
foreordained that Herod and Pontius Pilate should put 
Christ to death, to whom is the blame of his death to 
be attributed ? 

Ans. Neither Herod, nor Pontius Pilate, nor the 
Jews, had any such command given them : they acted 
according to the impulse of their own wicked hearts. 

The reader will again be so kind as to examine how 
much of the question this answer comprehends : it has 
nothing in it, either solid, natural, or elucidating, capa- 
ble of explaining, convincing, or persuading, on a grave 
and weighty subject. Every rational man, who is ac- 
customed to reflect on the movements of his own mind, 
and the current of his life must be convinced, that in- 
stead of being under the force of an irresistible decree; 
instead of invincible impressions, which would. have 
captivated the will, God has given him reason, by which 
he is enabled to examine the objects presented to his 
choice. He must perceive that man is placed in such 
a situation, and the supreme good so obscured or re- 
mote, and consequently diminished, as makes a possi- 
bility for temporal good to come in competition with it. 
Hereby the freedom of the human will is preserved, 
which would be annihilated in a complete and perfect 
view of the truth, or under the irresistible influence of 
an almighty operator. But such is the goodness of God, 
that he brightens our path, bv shining yet more and 

5 



50 SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE, 

more to the perfect day. If Herod and Pontius Pilate 
could not possibly do otherwise than as they did, and 
only acted the part assigned them, because they were 
under the irreversible influence of an Omnipotent arm; 
then surely that power which was irresistible, and which 
impelled them to the act with a force which could not be 
withstood, must come in for the blame. If, on the other 
hand, their part of the transaction be considered as 
contingent ; that is, capable of being either done, or 
left undone, then the irreversible decree retires, and 
they are justly chargeable with laying wicked hands on 
the Prince of life. This question cannot be otherwise 
answered to the satisfaction of any impartial inquirer. 
A plain reader must clearly perceive that Mr. Pelton 
is not only constantly sliding from Free-will to irresist- 
ible fate ; but undertakes to unite them in every thought, 
word, and work, of a moral nature, as attributable to 
man. He curiously presumes that man can be perfectly 
free, while he is at the same time under the irresistible 
influence of an Almighty power urging him, and that he 
is in all justice accountable for those actions which he 
cannot possibly prevent, or alter in a single particle* 
the most minute imaginable. Surely there must be an 
amazing difference between contingency and absolute 
necessity. As for example ; If a man be seen walking 
on the earth, at the same time that the sun is seen shi- 
ning in the heavens ; we must see that the man walks 
as a voluntary creature, while the sun shines, as natu- 
ral and necessary. The man may not walk if he please, 
but the sun must shine, and could not do otherwise. 

Though the Apostle Paul knew that bonds and afflic- 
tions awaited him, yet he was not so hopeless or unbe* 
lieving, or attached to the doctrine of irreversible 
fate, as to overlook the great support in the trying 
hour. Hence, in his Epistle to the Romans, xv. 30. 
"Now, I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus 
Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye 
strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, 
that I may be delivered from them that do not believe 
in Judea." Though these words express the sense of 
danger, which the Apostle felt, in his approaching visit 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 51 

to Jerusalem, they express at the same time a positive 
belief that things were not so absolutely and irreversi- 
bly fixed, as not to be amended, or even changed or 
removed, by earnest prayer to God, who has all power 
in heaven and earth. While he sufficiently confesses 
his fears, he at the same time retains his hope. It is 
next to impossible, that Paul would express expecta- 
tions so contrary to an absolute decree, and utter pray- 
ers without apparent hopes of success, and which he 
must have known would be frustrated in the issue. 
The numerous promises made to prayer, and the posi- 
tive declarations that in many instances men " have not. 
because thecy ask not," must be sufficient to convince 
us that God's gracious dealings with his rational crea- 
tures, must be adapted to their circumstances of pro- 
bation, and not unalterably fixed, by an impassible 
decree. To show Mr. Pelton and the audience the 
amazing difference between contingency and absolute 
certainty, I asked him, 

Quest 23. When David inquired if Saul would 
come down to Keilah, and was answered that he would 
— and whether the men of Keilah would deliver him 
up, and was answered that they would, did not David, 
nevertheless, with his 600 men, escape into^the wilder- 
ness, and so escape the decree ? How can this escape 
be reconciled with an irresistible decree ? 

Ans. God told David that he had decreed that he~ 
should sit upon the throne of Israel. God knew that 
Saul would come down, provided David staid there, 
and that the men of Keilah would deliver him up. 

The reader must see by this answer, that Mr. Pelton 
has positively changed sides ; and has made an imme- 
diate transition from the unconditional and untenable, 
to the conditional scheme, in the words " God knew 
that Saul would come down to Keilah, provided David 
staid there." — Then there were two decrees, one a 
fixed and unchangeable decree, namely, that David 
should sit on the throne of Israel, and another of the 
contingent sort, namely, that Saul would come down to 
Keilah if David continued there. 

Now that David did not look upon the promise re- 



b2 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE* 

specting his sitting upon the throne of Israel, to be 
unconditional, is very plain from this very passage. 
For when Abiathar, the son of Abimelech the high- 
priest, had come to David at Keilah, with the ephod. 
David was so anxious about his own preservation, as 
well as the preservation of the young men who were 
with him, that he inquired of the Lord at two several 
times, as one truly concerned for the preservation of 
his life, notwithstanding the decree, or promise of 
God, that he should sit upon the throne of Israel. In 
this very short history we find most ample proof that 
there is such a thing as contingency in human affairs ; 
and that God has poised many things between a possi- 
bility of being, and not being ; leaving it to the will of 
the creature to turn the scale. In the answers of the 
Lord to David, the following conditions were evidently 
Implied: " If thou continue in Keilah, Saul will come 
down ; and if Saul come down, the men of Keilah will 
deliver thee into his hands." Now though the answers 
given in the text, positively assert that Saul would 
come down to Keilah, and that the men of Keilah would 
deliver David into the hands of Saul, yet Saul did not 
in fact come down, nor did the men of Keilah deliver 
David into his hands. And why ? Because David left 
Keilah. But, had David staid in Keilah, Saul would 
have gone down, and David would have been delivered 
into his hands. We may observe from this, that how- 
ever positive any declaration of God may appear to be ; 
which refers to any thing in which the fidelity or pro- 
bation of man is concerned, the prediction is not intended 
to destroy the free-agency, but comprehends it in some 
particular condition. 

That contingency is attached to human affairs and 
conduct, is very evident from the dealings of God with 
many of his human creatures. Though the righteous 
Judge of all the earth had pronounced sentence of 
death on Adam and all his posterity, yet he could never- 
theless, in all consistency with this sentence, spare 
Enoch and Elijah, who did not die, but were translated 
to their reward. The exemption will also be extended 
to all that shall be found alive at the last day. who shall 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 5o 

not die in reality, but be changed, in a moment, or 
twinkling of an eye. 

This is likewise evident from Lot, obtaining the 
preservation of the condemned city of Belah or Zoar, 
in answer to prayer, though one of the five condemned 
cities of the plain. He saw the impending destruction 
so near, that he thought he should not have time enough 
to reach the mountain, according to the orders imposed 
by the angel, before it arrived. He therefore begged 
to be allowed to escape thither, pleading its being a 
little one, and less depraved than Sodom and Gomorrah, 
and therefore not so ripe for punishment. In this his 
humble and importunate request, he was accepted. 
Lot was no predestinarian. If the immediate destruc- 
tion of Zoar, in consequence of an irreversible decree 
had been pronounced, Lot could by no means employ 
prayer, to reverse what could not be changed by any 
means. How prevalent is prayer with God ! Far from 
refusing to deny a reasonable petition, he shows him- 
self as if under embarrassment to deny any. Hence 
that most emphatic declaration, which shows that events 
are far from being absolutely fixed — " Ye have not? 
because ye ask not." 

God declared that he had seen the affliction of his 
people in Egypt, and had heard their cry, by reason of 
their task-masters; and that hecame to deliver them out of 
the hand of the' Egyptians, and to bring them into a good 
land, flowing with milk and hone}'. The persons to whom 
this declaration w T as made,were those who were in afflic- 
tion in Egypt, whose cry w T as heard, and over whom 
the task-masters exercised a rigid and cruel authority. 
Yet of six hundred thousand, to whom this declaration, 
or promise, was originally made, only two, who were 
above twenty years of age, namely Joshua and Caleb 
entered, and inherited it. Others, to whom the promise 
was equally made, fell short of its accomplishment 
through unbelief and disobedience in the wilderness. 
This shows the absolute necessity of connecting the 
means with the end, and the condition with the promise. 
We must not only begin aright, but persevere in the 
right way to the end, to be saved at last. 

5* 



54 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, 
their provocations of the divine displeasure rose to 
such a pitch, that God said he would destroy them, and 
raise up a different people, of the offspring of Moses. 
At the entreaty of Moses, however, he was pleased to 
spare them. It is said, " the Lord repented of the evil 
he threatened to do." Moses pleaded with God; and 
so powerful was his intercession, notwithstanding the 
decree, that even the Omnipotent is represented as in- 
capable of doing any thing in the way of executing 
judgment, unless his creature desisted from interceding. 
The phrase " The Lord repented of the evil," is spoken 
merely after the manner of men, who having formed a 
purpose, permit themselves to be diverted from it, by 
strong and forcible reasons, and see proper to change 
their minds with relation to their former intentions. 

The Lord was angry with Aaron, the high-priest of 
the Jews, for his very unbecoming conduct on a certain 
occasion, and threatened to sweep him off by a sudden 
destruction. The intercession of Moses prevailed in 
his behalf also, in answer to which, his life was spared* 
This is another plain proof, that the death of Aaron 
was a contingency, and not immutably fixed in the pur- 
poses of the Most High. Moses knew this, and therefore 
pleaded his cause, in modest, yet persevering entreaty. 

The doctrine of inevitable fate was not believed in 
the days of Eli the high-priest of the Jews. This is evi- 
dent from the message of the prophet to him, 1 Sam.ii.27, 
"Thus saith the Lord, did I plainly appear to the house 
of thy father, when they were in Egypt, in Pharaoh's 
house ? and did I not choose him (Aaron) out of all the 
tribes of Israel, to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, 
to burn incense, to wear an ephod, before me ? Where- 
fore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed (Exod, 
xxix. 9. Numb. xxv. 10, 13,) that thy house and the 
house of thy father, should walk before me for ever ; 
but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that 
honour me will I honojur, and they that despise me shall 
be lightly esteemed," It was positively promised that 
the priesthood should be continued in a certain branch 
of the family of Aaron for ever, But, although this 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 55 

promise appears to be absolute, yet we plainly see, that 
like all other apparently absolute promises of God, this 
promise had a condition implied in it, though not ex- 
pressed. The posterity of Eli possessed the high- 
priesthood until the time of Solomon, when it was 
transferred to another family, the family of Eli being 
still in existence, not rendered more happy by seeing 
the prosperity of its rivals, while it saw its own mem- 
bers destitute and despised. When Abiathar the last 
high-priest of the house of Eli was put out of office, 
Zadok was anointed high-priest in his room, 1 Kings 
ii. 26, 27. 

In 1 Sam. xiii. 8, 9. we read that when Saul had 
waited to the seventh day in Gilgal, according to the 
appointment of Samuel the prophet, and Samuel not 
coming at the commencement of the seventh day, Saul 
took the whole matter into his own hands, and acted the 
parts of prophet, priest, and king, upon the occasion. 
He accordingly offered the burnt-offering, which was 
entirely unconstitutional. Hardly was this done, when 
Samuel made his approach and appearance, who 
severely reproved him for his rashness and precipita- 
tion. " Thou hast done foolishly, (said Samuel) thou 
hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, 
which he commanded thee, for then would the Lord 
have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But 
now thy kingdom shall not continue." Nothing can be 
a plainer or a stronger proof, that human actions and 
the consequences of them are contingent, and that God 
will deal with every man according to his works, that is, 
according to his inward integrity, and outward confor- 
mity to the will of God, as declared in his holy word, 

David was a sound believer in contingency, and not 
in the absolute unconditional decree. This appears 
glaringly evident at the time when Nathan the pro- 
phet reproved him concerning the wife of Uriah. 
Among other particulars of which the prophet's awful 
message consisted, one was, thatas he had afforded great 
occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the 
child born of that forbidden intercourse should surely 
die. Accordingly, as soon as Nathan had left David s 



5b SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 

and departed to his own house, the child under sentence, 
became very sick. Now what did David do on the oc- 
casion ? Did he believe the threatening announced so 
unchangeably fixed, as to submit himself quietly and 
peaceably to despair ? Nay ; so far from this was his 
conduct, that the sacred text informs us, " David 
besought the Lord for the child, and fasted, and lay all 
night upon the earth. And when the elders of his 
house arose and went to him, to raise him up from 
the earth, he would not, neither did he eat bread , 
with them." The reason which he assigns for this con- 
duct is very plain, and convincing to all such as are 
willing to open an unprejudiced eye to see the truth in 
the clearest light. David, when interrogated by the 
officers of his house on this subject, tells them and us, 
2 Sam. xii. 22, " While the child was yet alive, (said 
he) I fasted and wept : for who can tell whether God 
will be gracious to me, (notwithstanding his threatening) 
that the child may live." Now from this very plain 
circumstance, which is so plainly stated, it must appear 
that David, and indeed all others under the Mosaic and 
prophetic dispensations, were so satisfied that God's 
threatenings were conditional, that even in the most 
positive assertions relative to judgment and punishment, 
they sought for a change of purpose. So notwithstand- 
ing the positive declaration of Nathan, relative to the 
death of the child, David mourned and fasted, and hum- 
bled himself, and sought or prayed for the life of the 
child, not knowing but that might depend on some un- 
known condition, such as earnest prayer, fasting, or 
humiliation* Accordingly, he continued in these acts, 
while there was any hope. Every part of David's 
conduct on this occasion is an open declaration, which 
not only renders his belief in contingency, and his dis- 
belief as to unconditional predestination very plain, but 
likewise gives to all the parts such a consistency and 
mutual support, as to enliven and corroborate each 
Other, uniting and harmonizing the whole. 

When Ahab saw with a covetous eye the vineyard 
of Naboth, which not being able to procure by purchase 
ar exchange, he look it greatly to heart, became heavy 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 57 

and displeased, betook himself to his bed, not seeing 
any person, or eating bread. His wife gave him comfort 
by an assurance that she would put him in almost imme- 
diate possession of the vineyard. Accordingly Jezebel 
writing letters in Ahab's name, in which she counter- 
feited his authority, (his signature being lent to that 
authority) a fast was proclaimed, to intimate that there 
was some great calamity coming upon the nation, because 
of some evil tolerated in it, Naboth was ordered to be set 
on high, and brought to public trial. Two men, who 
were sons of Belial, and who had little or no scruple to 
tell lies, or take a false oath, were procured ; (for life 
could not be attainted, but on the evidence of two wit- 
nesses at least,) who deposed that Naboth blasphemed 
God and the King, acting the combined characters of 
atheist and rebel. On this evidence Naboth was car- 
ried forth, and stoned to death, and his vineyard put 
into the possession of Ahab. That the family of Naboth 
was destroyed also, appears from 2 Kings ix. 26. But 
God, whose all-observant eye saw this, commanded 
Elijah the prophet to meet ihab the next day, and to 
denounce the most awful judgments against him, which 
were ready to be poured out on him and on his house, 
in the course of the short remainder of his reign. Now 
when Ahab heard the words of the threatening, he felt 
himself affected to the centre of his soul, and gave some 
outward proofs also of the deep perturbation of his 
mind, by rending his clothes, putting on sackcloth, fast- 
ing, and lying in sackcloth. Though the threatenings 
denounced had all the appearance of an irreversible 
decree, yet the word of the Lord came to Elijah 
the second time, putting the question, " hast thou seen 
how Ahab humbleth himself before me ?" The Lord 
continued the statement by declaring, " because he 
humbleth himself before me, I will not bring on the evil 
in his days, (though threatened,) but in his son's days." 
It must plainly appear to every candid reader of this 
passage, that Ahab was nopredestinarian, but one who 
believed that a Divine decree, however severe, might 
be mitigated, or even entirely removed. On this prin- 
ciple he humbled himself before the Lord God of EH- 



SB SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 

jah, afflicting his body for the benefit of his soul, lying 
in sackcloth, and giving every outward proof of the 
reality of his repentance . All these things proved that his 
sorrow was genuine ; and God's approbation of it puts 
it out of all doubt. On what principle then can uncon- 
ditional decrees be charged on the belief of the men of 
that dispensation ? So far were they from believing in 
the rigid, unconditional, and irreversible decree, that 
various instances have been adduced with the strongest 
proofs of the contrary belief. 

When Hezekiah was sick unto death, the prophet 
Isaiah was sent to him with a divine commission to de- 
clare an awful command and message, namely, " to set 
his house in order, for he should die and not live." It 
appears from the text that he was smitten with such a 
disorder as must surely terminate in death, without the 
miraculous interference of God. Accordingly, Heze- 
kiah is commanded to set his house in order, or to give 
charge concerning his house, and to dispose of his 
affairs, as his death was at hand. Though the king had 
a full conviction of the high character of the prophet, 
and of the seriousness of the message, yet he was no 
absolute predestinarian. He showed by his conduct 
his firm belief in quite a contrary plan, by turning his 
face to the wall, and pouring out a most affectionate and 
humble prayer for mercy, by a prolongation of the 
span of life. On this ground and belief the prayer 
commences and proceeds, " I beseech thee, O Lord, 
remember now how I have walked before thee in truth, 
and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is 
good in thy sight." Here 1 would ask, what it was 
which eventually and providentially followed this pray- 
er ? Before the prophet who had delivered the mes- 
sage of death to Hezekiah had gone out into the middle 
court,;the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ki Turn 
again, and tell Hezekiah that I have heard thy prayer, 
seen thy tears, and will heal thee. On the third day 
thou shalt go up to the house of the Lord. And I will 
add unto thy days fifteen years." This is the first case, 
in which a man was informed of the term and conclu- 
sion of his life. This message was from God himself. 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 59 

and apparently clad in all the unchangeableness of an 
absolute decree. Yet humble prayer procured its re- 
peal. A condition was nevertheless attached to the 
cure, and with which God required compliance, namely, 
the application of a poultice of figs. This instance is 
so plain as not to aim its conviction at the understanding 
only, but also at the heart, affecting, melting, and encou- 
raging it. 

Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, 2 Kings 
siii. 1, did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, 
for which the Lord threatened Israel that he would de- 
liver them into the hands of their enemies. The king 
saw the awful threatening partly fulfilled ; for the Lord 
was not only angry, but his anger was kindled against 
Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael> 
and then of Benhadad, kings of Syria ; but notwith- 
standing the severity of the threatening, and the anger 
of the Lord poured out in a great measure, Jehoahaz 
cried to God for mercy, and the Lord raised up a 
saviour, and delivered them. 

The king and people of Nineveh do not appear to be 
believers in the doctrine of unchangeable decrees* 
For when the word of the Lord came to Jonah, saying, 
" Arise, and go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach 
unto it the preaching that I bid thee," Jonah, after some 
time, went to Nineveh, a city of three days' journey, 
and when he had entered into the city a day's journey, 
he cried and said, " yet forty days and Nineveh shall be 
destroyed." And the king of Nineveh believing God=, 
proclaimed a fast, and the people put on sackcloth, from 
the greatest of them even to the least. For, when 
word came first to the king, he arose from his throne., 
and laid aside his robe, and covered himself with sack- 
cloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be pro- 
claimed through Nineveh by the decree of the king 
and his nobles, that neither man, nor beast, nor herd, 
nor flock, should taste any food, or drink any water: 
but that the men, covered with sackcloth, should cry 
mightily to God, and that every one should turn from 
his evil ways, and from the violence of their hands. 
The reason which the king assigns for this humiliation 



60 SUBSTANCE GF DEBATE. 

is, " Who can tell but God may turn and repent, and 
and turn away from his tierce anger, that we perish 
not." And what was the happy result of this opinion, 
and consentaneous conduct ? God saw their repentance 
to be sincere, and that they turned from their evil 
ways ; and God repented of the threatened evil that 
he said he would do unto them, and he did it not. 

The prophet Jonah also appears to believe that the 
severest threatening might comprehend and imply, 
though not express a condition of mercy. In his prayer , 
to the Lord, he addressed him with, " O Lord, was 
it not my saying (and consequently his thought also) 
when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled be- 
fore thee unto Tarshish : for I knew that thou art a 
gracious God, and merciful, and slow to anger, and of 
great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil." 

While we are on the subject of contingency, it may 
be added, that Saul was chosen to be king of Israel, 
and to be succeeded by his family. But offending 
against the will and command of God, (obedience 
being the condition of this family succession to the 
throne, the prophet Samuel made use of the following 
words in his reproof and punishment, as contained, 1 
Sam. xiii. 12, " If thou hadst kept the commandment 
of the Lord, he would have established thy kingdom 
for ever ; but because thou hast not, he hath taken it 
from thee, and given it to a neighbour of thine." 

In 1 Chron. xxi. 15, 16, we read that God sent an 
angel to destroy Jerusalem, and as he was in the very 
act of destroying, David, and his people, and the elders 
of Israel, fell on their faces and cried for mercy, and 
found it : for the Lord repented of the evil, and laid 
aside the flaming sword. 

God promised David, 2 Sam. vii. 15, 16, that he 
would not take away the kingdom from him as from 
Saul; yet if we turn to 1 Kings xi. 9 — 11, we shall 
find that this promise or decree was conditional, and 
that it did not prevent ten of the tribes from being rent 
from Rehoboam, the grandson of David. 

Solomon, the son, and immediate successor of Da- 
vid , did not believe that the promise made to his father 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 6? 

was unconditional. For at the dedication of the tem 
pie, he took it for granted, that notwithstanding all the 
comfort that might be v drawn from such a promise, that 
it would be possible to violate the condition, and so to 
forfeit the accomplishment of the promise. Accord- 
ingly, when he undertook the public dedication of the 
temple, as recorded 1 Kings viii. 33, to the end, in all 
the awful cases which were supposed to be the result 
and punishment of future sin, if fallen into by the na- 
tion, being at the same time the commencement or high 
accomplishment of the threatening or decree of God 5 
he supposes that things were not so absolutely decreed ? 
but that mercy might be found, if humble supplication 
were made to God for it. He enumerates a number of 
instances, in which, should they occur, instead of sup- 
posing their case to be absolutely hopeless in conse- 
quence of any unchangeable decree, they ought to 
supplicate a throne of mercy. One of those specified 
cases is, " When smitten down before an enemy," in 
consequence of God's displeasure, justly deserved, 
but manifested in the way of public defeat. Also when 
" heaven should be shut up, and there would be no 
rain," God refusing to send the earlier and latter rain. 
Likewise, when, as a consequence, " famine should visit 
them:" when "pestilence" should be felt as a gene- 
ral and contagious disease : when " blasting" should 
injure their crops, preventing them from coming to ma- 
turity : when " mildew" should corrode the texture of 
the stalk: when "grasshoppers" multiplying by millions, 
should destroy every green thing: when the "cater- 
pillar" or the locust should spread its devastations : 
when an " enemy should attack their fenced cities, " 
the keys and barriers of the land : when another sort 
of "plague" should break forth, affecting the surface 
of the body with botch, blain, and leprosy : when 
" sickness" should impair the strength by destroying 
the energies of the body, even then their case was not 
to be considered as utterly hopeless. The words of 
Solomon in his prayer are very expressive. " If they 
sin against thee" by some general defection from truth, 
to some species of false worship; "yet if they be- 

6 



62 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

think themselves, and repent, and make supplication 
unto thee, saying, we have sinned, and have done per- 
versely, and return to thee with all their heart, and 
with all their soul, then hear thou their prayer and 
their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and 
forgive thy people that have sinned against thee," not' 
withstanding the apparent unchangeahleness of the de- 
cree, and the high pitch to which the punishment as an 
awful consequence might have advanced. All these 
cases were therefore allowed to be brought before the 
Lord. 

When Solomon himself had fallen into sin, he had 
it declared to him in a solemn message from God, that 
notwithstanding the apparent unchangeahleness of the 
promise made to David respecting the firmness of his 
kingdom, that " the Lord was angry with Solomon, be- 
cause his heart was turned from the Lord God of 
Israel, who appeared unto him twice, and had com- 
manded him concerning this thing that he should not 
go after other gods : but he kept not that which the 
Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto So- 
lomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast 
not kept my covenant, &c. I will surely rend the king- 
dom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. " Had 
not Solomon's delinquency been marked with a high 
degree of the divine disapprobation, it would have a 
fatal effect on the morals of mankind. Vice is vice^ 
no matter who commits it, and God was, as much dis- 
pleased with sin in Solomon, as in the most profligate. 
Circumstances also greatly aggravate offences, and sub* 
ject the offender to greater punishment. Solomon was 
wise: God appeared to him twice, giving him direct 
proofs of his being, and his providence. The promi- 
ses of God were fulfilled most remarkably to him. 
All these were aggravations of Solomon's crimes, as to 
their demerit, and demanded greater punishment than 
any of the Sidonians may be considered as liable to, for 
the worship of Ashtaroth. 

The Lord himself speaks most definitely on this 
head. In 2 Chron. vii. 16 to the end, we are informed, 
that God, after appearing to Solomon, and assuring him 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 63 

that he had heard his prayer at the dedication of the 
temple, and that he had chosen and sanctified the 
house to have not only his name for ever there, but his 
eyes and heart also ; yet adds, as a condition, on which 
this great promise might be claimed, " And as for 
thee, if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father 
walked, and do according to all that 1 have commanded 
thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; 
then will 1 establish the throne of thy kingdom, ac- 
cording as I have covenanted with David thy father, 
saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in 
Israel. " Can words be plainer, or more express as a 
condition ; or more opposite to every thing of the abso- 
lute and unconditional ? And to make this yet more plain 
and forcible, the Lord adds, (notwithstanding the firm- 
ness of the former promise) " But if ye turn away, and 
forsake my statutes and my commandments which I 
have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, 
and worship them, then will 1 pluck them up by 
the roots out of my land which I have given them ; and 
this house which I have sanctified for my name, will I 
cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb 
and a by-word among all nations. " Thus God sets be- 
fore him death as well as life ; the curse as well as the 
blessing. He supposes it possible, that though they 
had this temple built to the honour of God, yet they might 
be drawn aside to worship other gods. This plan of 
acting is in perfect harmony with all the attributes of 
the Divine Being. 

Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was no believer in 
absolute predestination. For "• when (2 Chron. xii.) 
Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had 
strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, 
and all Israel with him. And it came to pass in the 
fifth year of Rehoboam, that Shishak, king of Egypt, 
came up with a great army against Jerusalem, because 
they had transgressed against the Lord. And he took 
the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to 
Jerusalem. Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Re- 
hoboam, and to the princes of Judah that were gather- 
ed together to Jerusalem, because of Shishak, and said 



64 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

unto them, Thus saith the Lord, ye have forsaken me r 
and therefore have 1 also left you in the hand of Shi- 
shak. Whereupon the princes of Israel, and the king* 
humbled themselves before the Lord, (instead of trust- 
ing in the promise made to David, as absolute and un- 
conditional) and they said, The Lord is righteous. 
And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, 
the Lord said, therefore, I will not destroy them, but I 
will grant them some deliverance. 9 ' They acknow- 
ledged their sin, and that God had no hand in it, saying, 
u The Lord is righteous." This was equivalent to " We 
have none to blame but ourselves." 

When Jeroboam got possession of the kingdom of 
Israel, or of the ten tribes, according to the word of 
Ahijah, the Shilonite, he nevertheless showed his con- 
ditional belief in this decree, though in an evil way. 
" He said (1 Kings xii. 26) in his heart, (notwithstand- 
ing the promise made to him) now shall the kingdom 
return to the house of David. If this people go up to do 
sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusa- 
lem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto 
their lord, even unto Rehoboam. Whereupon he 
took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said 
unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusa- 
lem, behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up 
out of the land of Egypt. And he set one in Bethel, 
and the other set he in Dan. " 

How curious must Mr Pelton's interpretation of Da- 
vid's questions appear to every candid and enlightened 
mind? When David inquired, " Will Saul come down 
to Keilah ? Will the men of Keilah deliver me into the 
hands of Saul ?" Mr. Pelton tells us that '* God inform- 
ed David of those circumstances (which were contin- 
gent, and not absolutely decreed, for they never came 
to pass) and that David acted accordingly ; that no vio- 
lence was offered to the will : nor was liberty or con- 
tingency of second causes taken away." Now surely, 
where Mr. Pelton openly admits and allows contingen- 
cy, as it respects human actions, he allows all I contend 
for at present. If no compulsive violence be offered 
to the human will, then the mind must be acknowledged 






SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE* 65 

to be free to choose or to refuse, which is what I prove, 
If David acted on the principle of freedom of will to 
choose, and on the contingency of events, why may 
not another do the same, or even all mankind? If 
contingency be allowed, then those actions, for which 
man is either approved or blamed, are the proper re- 
sult of his own immediate choice. But Mr. Pelton 
perceiving by after-thought that he had plunged himself 
too far into the allowance of the freedom of human 
will and choice, endeavours in his publication to make 
some apology to his friends for this, by a note subjoin- 
ed (page 24) in which he quotes the Confession of 
Faith, (Westminster) on " God's foreordaining what- 
ever comes to pass." Now, if there be an absolute 
foreordination, which cannot be evaded in a single jot 
or tittle, manner or circumstance, and that by almighty 
power, I cannot, in the most cool and deliberate appli- 
cation of reason and reflection, possibly perceive how 
any thing like contingency, can have any connexion 
with human actions. 

But Mr. Pelton's allowance of free will, being alto- 
gether contrary to the absolute and unconditional 
scheme, and fearing that he had gone too far ; to re- 
trieve the name of fatalist, he makes a fresh attempt to 
unite the solid iron and the unsolid clay of the potter, 
by adding in his note, that " therefore whatever comes 
to pass, is the decree, and not what is threatened." 
He therefore leaves the argument only where he found 
it. For if it be at any period a threatening, and not a 
certain fact ; and if its being only a threatening, makes 
it contingent, then there is a certain period in all ac- 
tions, when they are contingent, and not absolutely 
certain, and therefore, not necessary or inevitable. To 
hear Mr. Pelton a little more definitely on the ques- 
tion, I asked, 

Quest. What is contingency ? 

Instead of attempting to give a direct answer, or to 
preserve a connexion with the groundwork of the pre- 
ceding argumentation, he again called for his crutch ; 
and Walker's Dictionary being consulted, he read, M the 
quality of being fortuitous, accidental possibility," 



66 SUBSTANCE 1 OF DEBATE. 

Now on this score, where an action is fortuitous, and 
accidentally possible, there can be no moral necessity. 
The necessarian scheme of which Mr. Pelton is an ad- 
vocate, (but which he is obliged occasionally to give up 
as altogether untenable) puts man on a level with rivers 
and seas, in free agency* We can easily perceive an 
immense difference between what is merely natural or 
physical, and what is moral ; and therefore liable to 
blame or approbation. Man can think, and speak, and 
act, being attributes which no astronomer has eversup^ 
posed to belong to stars and planets. To receive a di- 
rect answer, and avoid a sudden transition from one 
subject to another, I put another question, bordering 
on the last. 

Quest. For what purpose, or to what end is the word 
*' Contingency'' used in common language ? 

Ans. It is a word used by men for a thing that may 
be casual ; but God knows all things. 

This answer shows how loath Mr. Pelton was still 
(even while he allowed the possibility of things hap- 
pening, which never came to pass,) to give up his be^ 
loved, unchangeable fatality. He allowed that man is 
under no influence of any kind, equivalent to an abso- 
lute force, or inevitable constraint : and yet he endea- 
vours to contrive some open or covered way, of bring- 
ing him forward under the all-constraining operation of 
an irreversible decree. Now it is in a high degree 
possible for a very plain man to ascertain whether he 
feels such an irresistible influence or not. He may easily 
prove his own free will, or power of doing what he 
wills, or desires, as connected with his duty to God, and 
of resisting the motives to sin. This is free will, in ^ 
plain, easy, and popular sense. Every person recol- 
lects instances, wherein he has done those several 
things. Every man of any discernment knows that he 
has free will, in a sense quite opposite to mechanism, 
which can only incline to the way to which it is com- 
pelled ; whereas he feels that he is possessed of a 
power, which can either advance, retreat, or stand still. 
Under the principle of free will, though a man be 
tempted to a commission of a crime, yet if his motives 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 6? 

to abstain, be as strong as those which urge him to com- 
mit it, he must feel that he has it in his power to choose 
the one or the other. Or suppose two men in those 
circumstances, to yield to the temptation, and then to 
be differently affected by a review of their conduct ; 
the one repining at fortune, or fate, for having placed 
him in too tempting a situation, and for soliciting him 
by motives too powerful to be resisted : the other 
blaming and upbraiding himself, for yielding to the bad 
motives, and resisting the good. I would ask, which 
of these two kinds of remorse is more rational ? Now 
if there be any truth in Mr. Pelton's doctrine of abso- 
lute fatality, that which blames fate is the true kind. 
If, on the other hand, the doctrine of free will be true p 
(and which is the universal opinion of mankind,) the 
remorse of that man who blames himself for having 
done amiss, is the only rational plan of action. No 
divine, moralist, or man of sense, ever supposes true 
penitence to begin, until the criminal be conscious that 
he has done, or neglected something, which he ought 
not to do, or to neglect. Now this character of re- 
pentance would be not only absurd, but impossible, if 
all criminals and guilty persons believed steadfastly, 
that what is done could not have been prevented. 
Whenever a man becomes satisfied that he could not 
avoid doing the evil he has done, or leaving the good 
incumbent on him as a duty, undone, he may continue 
to bewail himself for years, or repine at the cruel con* 
duct of fortune ; but his repentance is a mere name, or 
error. It is always a part of the language of true re- 
morse, " I wish the deed had never been done : wretch 
that I was not to resist the temptation : the remem- 
brance of my sin is grievous." Does this imply that 
the penitent supposes himself to be under an absolute 
and inevitable necessity of committing the deed, and 
that his conduct could not possibly be a whit different 
from what it has been ? Is not every man of reflection 
a perfectly competent judge of this plain, but interest- 
ing matter ? Has not this very language often express- 
ed the feelings of his own soul, when under a conscious^ 
but unconstrained sense of having done what was 



()S SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

wrong, or neglected what was right ? All men have 
had frequent and repeated experience of this part of 
repentance. Then why multiply words, when by 
plain and positive facts, it is easy for any man who 
looks into his own breast, or reflects on his past expe- 
rience, to determine the controversy ? As Mr. Pelton 
took both sides of the question, when it suited him, I 
wished to show him his error in a very clear light, and 
So put another question to him. 

Quest. Can any thing be, at the same moment of time, 
a contingency and a certainty ? 

Ans. Yes, Sir : with God, who knows all things, they 
are certainties ; but with man, who does not know all 
things, they are uncertainties. 

Here, again, he plunges into the horrible pit, and 
miry clay ; making what is negative and positive, odd 
and even, right and wrong, good and bad, injunction 
and prohibition, approbation and condemnation, pro- 
mise and threatening, remorse and conscious joy, re- 
Ward and punishment, to be terms mutually equivalent 
and synonymous. All subtleties which disturb for a 
moment the conscious sense of moral liberty, which 
every man feels himself possessed of, are only tares 
among the wheat, and sown by the hand of an enemy. 
The candid, impartial, and virtuous part of mankind, 
are enemies to fatality in their hearts; all arguments ia 
ftvour of it are but mere tinsel, and not solid gold. 

It is the nature of genuine truth to produce no effects 
inconsistent with general utility. Let a son when re- 
proved by his father, (who is a fatalist,) only reply 
with all filial modesty, " Father, I could no more help 
myself, or prevent the evil by which I have offended 
you, than the sun could prevent its shining ; for all. 
human thoughts, words, and actions are under the ir- 
resistible influence of omnipotent necessity." Let a 
criminal, when brought before those persons whose pro- 
vince it is to guard the well-being and public good of 
the state, reply, u that he could no more help himself, 
or avoid what he has done, than the clock can help it- 
self when wound up to a certain length of chain." If 
this be really the case, where is the use of all the laws 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 6$ 

and precepts in the world ? The bad consequences of 
admitting for a moment that human actions are fatal, and 
that no man can do otherwise at any time, than as he 
actually does, are most absurd as well as dangerous. 
No advocate of the doctrine of fatality, ought to be so 
blinded as to think it to be the duty of any rational man 
to sacrifice the general interests of mankind, to his re- 
putation or opinion. This also shows that opinions 
ought to be considered with attention, before they are 
embraced and adopted. 

Mr. Pelton has laboured ever so much, (but altoge- 
ther in vain,) to reconcile his system of absolute ne- 
cessity, with the general notions of moral good and evil. 
All he has been able to do, is, to perplex himself still 
more, and involve himself still deeper. If absolute 
necessity and inevitable fate, contrived from all eterni- 
ty, plans to be accomplished, in spite of all the vigilance 
and precaution imaginable, then all religion is left to 
shift for itself. It is impossible for religion, on this 
principle, to vindicate the character of the Deity. We 
cannot help shuddering at the thought of a doctrine 
which overturns the only durable foundation of human 
society, and human happiness. To show Mr. Pelton 
and the auditory in general, that the condition on which 
God is pleased to hold out any future good is never to 
be separated from the promise, I asked, 

Quest. Whether the children of Israel, who were 
brought out of Egypt, and to whom the promise was 
immediately given (Exod. iii. 17.) of being brought 
into the Land of Canaan, did not fall short of the pos- 
session of that land, seeing, that of 600,000 persons of 
twenty years old and upwards, to whom the promise 
was made, only Joshua and Caleb entered that land ? 

Ans. The promise of God was made to Abraham and 
his seed as a nation ; and Joshua and Caleb led them 
into the land of Canaan. 

Now it must be evident to every attentive reader a 
that this answer is a most glaring piece of absurdity, 
The promise alluded to, Exod. iii. 17, was not one made 
to Abraham, but to his posterity. " And 1 have said I 
will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, unto the 



70 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE* 

land of the Canaanites, &c, to a land flowing with milk 
and honey. " Abraham was never in the affliction of 
Egypt. Now, that a condition is expressed in the promise, 
is evident from the 1 8th verse, namely /that " the people 
and their elders were to hearken to the commands of 
God, as expressed or declared by Moses." That the 
promise was especially made to the Israelites in Egypt, 
is also evident from Heb. iii. 17 — 19 ; " To-day if ye 
will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the 
provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness : 
when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw 
my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that 
generation, and said, They do always err in their heart : 
and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my 
wrath, They shall not enter into my rest." As these 
words were quoted from the 95th Psalm, and were a 
warning to the Israelites in the days of David, not to 
provoke God, lest they should be excluded from that 
rest which God had promised them, the apostle uses 
them here to persuade the Christians of Palestine, to 
hold fast their religious privileges, and the grace they 
had received, lest they should come short of that state 
of future glory, which Christ had prepared for them. 
What contemptible quibbling must be employed to 
maintain a false and dangerous tenet against the whole 
tenor of the word of God, as well as against the dictates 
of reason and experience ? An apostle assures us, that the 
Jews in the wilderness fell short of the promise, through 
unbelief; and advises Christians to avoid the same 
dangerous rock, and not to make shipwreck of faith 
and a good conscience. What an evil work are men 
embarked in, who make it their business, to tell be- 
lievers of this period, that they can no more finally fall 
away, than God can cease to be the universal and so- 
vereign ruler ? They also add at the same time, *' that 
though they may fall ever so deeply, and foully, they 
cannot fall finally." 

That things are not immoveably established by ine- 
vitable fate will farther appear from Deut. i. 20, 21, 
" Ye are come to the mountain of the Amorites, which 
the Lord our God doth give unto us. Behold, the Lord 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 11 

thy God hath set the land before thee : go up and pos- 
sess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto 
thee — Fear not." But instead of attending to the 
word of the Lord, as declared by Moses, the whole 
congregation murmured against Moses and Aaron, and 
said one to another, " Let us make a captain, and let 
tis return unto Egypt." All this shows that they were 
under no unavoidable restraint. The assertors of hu- 
man liberty, and freedom of will, have always main- 
tained, that if all actions be unavoidable, man cannot 
possibly be an accountable being, or a moral agent, on 
any principles of justice. This principle is evident to 
all who look to their own experience. Our moral 
agency implies that we may attend to good, and forbear 
or avoid evil. But if every intention and action of 
life be fixed by eternal and immutable decrees, which 
cannot be prevented, it is as absurd to insist on a man's 
refraining from the property of another, and being 
honest, who is irreversibly doomed to an act of theft 
or robbery, as to insist on a human creature stopping 
the motion of the most distant planet in the solar sys- 
tem. Unless some events depend upon the will and 
choice of man, it cannot possibly be seen, how the 
terms " Ought" and " Ought not" can have any appli- 
cation to him. Moral agency implies that we are ac- 
countable for our conduct ; and that if we do what we 
" Ought not" to do, we certainly incur blame and de- 
serve punishment. Conscience also is a principle which 
is sufficient to convince us that we are accountable, 
and therefore under no inevitable decree. It convin- 
ces every man, that he is accountable for those actions 
which are in his power. But conscience cannot blame 
or approve those actions, which are the effect, not of 
choice, but of absolute compulsion. If we can believe 
but once that all our actions are unavoidable, the cla- 
mours of conscience are rendered silent and trifling ; 
while the principle itself becomes a fallacious and im- 
pertinent monitor. From that moment, circumspec- 
tion is unnecessary,, and all remorse and penitence on 
the recollection of evil, absurd. Can any principle be 
of more fatal consequence to us, or to society in gene- 



72 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

Fal, than to believe that the dictates of conscience are 
false, unreasonable, or insignificant? Yet this is one 
certain effect of our becoming fatalists, or even doubt- 
ful in regard to moral liberty. 

In addition to these evils of fatalism, it maybe obser- 
ved also, that when a man's understanding begins to be so 
far perverted by debauchery, as to make him imagine 
his crimes to be unavoidable ; from that moment* 
he begins to think them innocent, and deems it a suffi- 
cient apology, that in respect to them, he is no longer 
a free-agent. The drunkard pleads his constitution : 
the blasphemer urges the invincible force of habit : 
and the sensualist would have us believe that his appe- 
tites are too strong to be resisted. If we could sup- 
pose all men so perverted, as to argue in the same man- 
ner, it is certain they would think all crimes equally in- 
nocent. And what would be the awful consequence ? 
Licentiousness, misery, and desolation would become 
irremediable and universal. If God intended that men 
should be happy, he certainly intended also that they 
should believe themselves free, moral, and accountable 
creatures. 

To be still plainer, and more particular, I asked, 

Quest. Was not this promise of an introduction, and 
entrance into the land of Canaan, made to the posterity 
of Abraham, in the days of Moses ? And not only to 
the people in general as a nation, but also to the elders 
of Israel ? 

Ans. No, Sir. The promise was made to the seed 
of Abraham, or the children of Israel, as a nation. 

Now, surely, it must be evident to every candid reader 
of the Bible, that this promise was not only made to the 
seed of Abraham as a nation, but also as a nation compre- 
hending elders of the people, who were men of years and 
experience, and of some authority among the Israelites. 
This is very evident from Exod. iii. 16, 17, where God 
commands Moses, saying, " Go and gather the elders 
of Israel together, and say unto them, the Lord God 
of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of 
Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited 
you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt : and 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE, 73 

1 will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt, unto the 
land of the Canaanites, &c." Now that this promise 
included the elders as well as the people, is very evi- 
dent to every unprejudiced person. 

That this promise was not unconditional, appears 
plainly, where Moses assures the people, that though 
the Lord had avouched them to be his peculiar people, 
and to set them up on high ; and though they had 
avouched the Lord to be their God, and to walk in his 
ways ; yet, nevertheless, there was a dangerous possi- 
bility of forfeiting those promises and privileges, by 
drawing back to folly and disobedience. Hence he 
proceeds, Deut. xxviii. 1- — 15, to warn, as well as 
strengthen them. " And it shall come to pass, if thou 
shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy 
God, and to observe and do all his commandments 
which 1 command thee this day, that the Lord thy God 
will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth," 
and the following blessings shall be conferred upon 
thee, &c. But if thou wilt not hearken, the following 
curses shall overtake thee, &c. Here nothing is forced 
or constrained : all is free, and left to their own choice, 
with a fatherly injunction to choose aright. Hence 
the various methods of address, employed by the Most 
High, as expressed by terms indicating this freedom. 
The words if, except, unless, although, yet, notwith- 
standing, 4»c. appear to hold out motives, fit to en- 
courage or deter agents of moral freedom. " If ye be 
willing and obedient — if ye refuse and "rebel— if ye 
hearken to my voice — if ye do as I have commanded 
--except a man be born again," and a great variety of 
others, hold out a promise or threatening, as well as a 
warning or encouragement. Every person perceives 
himself possessed of a freedom of will in moral actions, 
the plainest man conceiving the meaning of the phrases, 
"I will" or " I will not." Every man is conscious to him- 
self that he acts freely ; and that where he is not under 
tjhe impulse of some violent passion, or inveterate 
habit, he has it in his power to pursue a course of 
action even directly contrary to that to which he is in- 
vited by the present predominant motive which he al- 

7 



74 SUBSTANCE Or DEBATE. 

lows to actuate him. Now if a person, by any irregu- 
larity of conduct, should fall short of attaining to all 
the good intentions of God concerning him, let him not 
for a moment presume on such rashness, as to attribute 
the blame of this failure to his Maker, who has no 
pleasure either in his sin or his punishment. When the 
Lord caused Moses to see the good land of promise, he 
told him at the same time that he must not expect to 
inherit it, or to go over Jordan, which was the great 
line of separation. In Numbers xx. 12, we find Aaron 
joined with him, who also was denied an entrance into 
the promised land. The reason which God assigns 
for this prevention is a very plain one, and altogether 
unconnected with any inevitable decree, namely, " Be- 
cause ye believed me not." The offence seems to be 
comprehended in the following particulars. God com- 
manded Moses to take a rod in his hand, and speak to 
the rock in the wilderness, that it should give forth 
water. Moses approaches the rock, but thinking that 
speaking to the rock was not enough, he smote it twice 
without any command to do so, which seemed to indi- 
cate want of attention to the presence and command of 
God. He permitted his mind to be carried away by 
the people's disobedience, and being provoked, he 
spoke unadvisedly with his lips in the phrase " hear 
now, ye rebels ; must we fetch you water out of 
this rock V Thus it plainly appears, that they did not 
properly believe God, or honour him in the presence 
of the people. As Aaron appears consenting to these 
particulars, he also is prevented from entering the pro- 
mised land. A just sense of our being under obliga- 
tions to God must forcibly strike the mind of a wilful 
offender, and add remorse to conviction, where the 
person is conscious of guilt which he himself has con- 
tracted. It is by the application of this just principle 
that man is instructed, accused, convinced, and re- 
claimed. A conviction that our evil conduct is the 
effect of choice, and that God is clear of all blame, 
must impart great force to truth, and weight to reason 
and conscience. On the other hand, the person who 
believes himself to be a mere machine in the hand of 



SUBSTANQE OF DEBATE. 75 

fate, shuts up all the avenues by which genuine truth 
can visit the soul. 

I would now ask ever}' candid reader, whether from 
the foregoing questions, the answers given to them, 
and the observations which I have made on them, Mr. 
Pelton is not justly chargeable with the greatest incon- 
sistencies, as well as the most glaring absurdities ? 
Whether the necessarian, or inevitable scheme of doc- 
trine, while it fosters want of circumspection, and con- 
sequently, renders the individual an easy prey to temp- 
tation, dull in his devotions, and weak in his resolu- 
tions ; making the good things of the world appear big 
and bright ; while it augments the evils to be sustained 
in our passage through it, does not at the same time 
make the good and gracious God cruel, unjust, and un- 
merciful ? I hope the impartial judge and examiner of 
the process of our controversy sees, how evidently 
the strongest arguments, in favour of the necessarian 
system, were proved to be utterly inconclusive, un- 
scriptural, irrational, dangerous to faith and practice ; 
as well as to public and private life. 

As our controversy was chiefly of the doctrinal kind, 
the greatest part of it hitherto may be abridged, and re- 
duced to the plain and simple question, " Whether God 
from all eternity absolutely predestinated a fixed and 
certain number of his human creatures to eternal 
death, without any possibility of escape, while he as 
absolutely elected the remainder to eternal life, with- 
out any possibility^ of failure ?" If so, then he who has 
decreed the end, has also decreed the means, which 
must promote and accomplish the end. The elect 
therefore must be saved, let them do what they will ; 
and the reprobates be damned, let them do what they 
can. Mr. Pelton being greatly embarrassed about the 
doctrine of absolute and unconditional reprobation, yet 
knowing how justly liable his scheme is to be charged 
with it, did all that lay in his power to disguise, ex- 
culpate, or conceal it. Not knowing how to justify the 
black act which necessitates all that are unconditionally 
reprobated, to sin on, that they may be damned at last, 
he did what lay in his power to keep from fair review 



76 SUBSTANCE OF^ DEBATE. 

and observation this main pillar of his Gospel, posi- 
tively (or at least apparently) denying that there was 
any such thing ; or covering it with such a cloud as to 
render it invisible. But the bright beams of scriptu- 
ral and rational truth, darting and continuing to ope- 
rate on this cloud, he was obliged to come from under 
its skirts ; not so much with arguments of defence or 
demonstration, but with absolute incompatibles. He 
was driven to the necessity of declaring, that a man 
could at one and the same moment of time be a tit sub- 
ject bo(h of election and reprobation, and that election 
and reprobation are not opposed one to the other. 
Now, where a just view is unfolded of so essential a 
doctrine, as that of being accountable to God for our 
actions, and in possession of a mind free in its volitions, 
and not under absolute and unavoidable constraint, it 
must appear that there is not a greater difference be- 
tween liberty and bondage, or light and darkness, than 
there is between absolute and unconditional election to 
eternal life, and absolute and inevitable predestination 
to eternal death ; and that they ar§ entirely inconsis- 
tent and incompatible with each other. To allow the 
possibility of election at the same time that he contends 
for the unchangeable decree of absolute and uncondi- 
tional reprobation, is in fact a glaring absurdity. 

While Mr. Pelton attempts to maintain the doctrine 
of absolutes and unconditional, he allows at the same 
time that a man's mind may be perfectly free, unbias- 
sed, and unconstrained : and avers that everlasting 
torments and unavoidable damnation, cannot be fairly 
deduced from the doctrine of reprobation. But if 
there be such an unchangeable decree, why does he 
oppose it by so many grants and allowances, in several 
parts of his book. Now I ask, on what principle a 
man can be a rigid predestinarian, and at the same time 
allow that even one solitary individual, whose name is 
on the black roll of reprobation, can possibly avoid its 
ensnaring influence and be saved ? 

Several of the questions which I put to Mr. Pelton 
in our controversy, my manner of putting them, and the 
emphatic parts on which I laid a proper stress, have 



SUBSTANCE OT DEBATE. 77 

been entirely overlooked, or laid aside by him in bis 
publication, or diminished from insuperable rocks 
which he could neither clamber nor remove, to sepa- 
rate unconnected grains of sand. It is equally evident 
to all who were present, that the most direct questions 
received from Mr. Pelton only indirect answers. For, 
when questioned concerning a certain fact, doctrine, or 
word ; he not being able to give a direct reply, had to 
feel it convenient, or even absolutely necessary, to drop 
the term in which the interrogation was put, and either 
openly or privately, "and behind back, to make a glaring 
change ; acting the Proteus, and giving his God two 
very different faces at one and the same time. He 
could find it in his heart, in order to preserve his totter- 
ing scheme, to make the just and holy Ruler of the 
world, take the awful oath, and swear by himself, that 
he has no pleasure in the death of the sinner, at the 
same time that by his decree, which unchangeably fixed 
the sinner's doom from all eternity, he has rendered 
pardon and grace impossible. But to get rid of the 
objection of the insuperable decree, he contrives to 
slip that out of the contest, (at least out of observa- 
tion) and to slip in what he makes equivalent to it, 
namely, God's foreknowledge, intending to charge his 
Maker with the most horrible absurdities, and assert- 
ing that because God foreknows evil of any kind, he 
must therefore be the contriver and finisher of all the 
murders, blasphemies, perjuries, &c. which ever were 
committed. 

The calm and unprejudiced witnesses of our dispute, 
will recollect how often Mr. Pelton was at an almost 
entire stand, when pressed to give a plain and direct 
answer to the questions proposed to him. And his 
publication, instead of giving a plain narrative of the 
debate, as a sincere record, passes an after judgment 
on every thing that occurred, and not unfrequently so 
marshals his questions and answers, as to give the ap- 
pearance of greater plausibility to the censures he 
sometimes undertakes to pronounce. I have every 
expectation that the witnesses who were present on 
7* 



78 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

the occasion, will form a judgment altogether impar- 
tial and unbiassed. 

That Mr. Peiton's answers were not replies to the 
questions put to him, will appear very evident to 
every calm and unprejudiced reader. When 1 asked 
him what a Condition was ? instead of replying, he 
called for Walker's Dictionary, from which he read 
five meanings, the last of which was " stipulation.'' 
This was certainly the true one on the occasion. When 
I asked him whether God's entering into a covenant, 
agreement, or stipulation with man, dicL not imply a 
knowledge and power afforded to, and possessed by 
man ? he answered, kt that God had entered into cove- 
nant with his Son." When I asked him whether Adam 
did not know the forbidden fruit from the other fruits 
of the garden, and possess a power from God to avoid 
it, as a temptation ? he answered, " STes, he did ; but 
he was at the same time under the influence of an ab- 
solute decree." When 1 asked him whether God did 
not propose terms of acceptance to Cain ? he answered, 
that " God entered into no covenant or terms with him." 
When I asked him whether the term " If," and many 
other words of like nature, did not imply a condition, 
and whether God did not employ that "term" in his 
address to Cain, as the mark of a fair condition? his 
answer was, " that God addressed Cain as a sinner on 
the covenant of works. 5 ' When I asked whether " If," 
connected with the stipulation, "thou doest zvell," did 
not mean a present offer of fair terms of grace and 
mercy ? he replied, that " Cain did not act well, which 
to do, he must have faith in Christ." When 1, in reply 
to this, stated that there were several dispensations, and 
that a man born under the Patriarchal, or Jewish, or 
Gentile dispensation, could not be justly tried by the 
Christian law, any more than a man of one talent could 
be accountable for as much improvement as a man of 
two or five talents : and asked whether a man born and 
living all his life long under an inferior dispensation 
could be justly tried by the laws and rules of a supe- 
rior dispensation ? his reply was, that " there was no 
name under Heaven by which a man could be saved 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE* 79 

but that of Christ ; and that this was implied in the 
promise*" When I asked him if Adam suffered the 
whole penalty of his sin, on the day of his transgres- 
sion ? he answered, that " he died the second death. P- 
Now almost every reader knows that the "second 
death" is another word for the state and punishment of 
the damned, and that Adam's body must die, previously 
to the execution of the everlasting punishment on his 
soul. When I asked him if God did not make an offer 
of mercy to the whole world by the ministry of Noah, 
before the universal deluge ? he answered, that " Noah 
was an exception, and therefore found grace. 7 ' When 
I asked him if Lot had not a divine permission, and 
even a commission to warn his friends in Sodom to es- 
cape from danger ? his answer was, that " the reason 
which prevented them was, that it was otherwise de- 
termined concerning them from the foundation of the 
world. " When I asked him whether, if God, from the 
foundation of the world, or from all eternity, had in- 
evitably decreed the burning of the inhabitants of 
Sodom and Gomorrah, how he could afterward make a 
sincere, late, ineffectual offer of safety to them consis- 
tently with his attributes of Justice, Mercy, and Good- 
ness ? his answer was, that " God knew his own plans : 
he fixed them from all eternity : but so that they could 
not be altered in the least : nevertheless, though he 
fixed every thing, yet he left men to act voluntarily." 
When I asked him whether God had decreed from 
all eternity every thing that happens ? his reply was 3 
^ Y«s ; all is certain with him. ; ' When I asked him 
whether a man's being under an inevitable decree to 
commit murder, could possibly be reconciled to his en- 
tire liberty to choose or to refuse ? his reply was, 
4t Yes: as in the case of Cain, he having liberty to 
choose or refuse, though tied down to commit the mur- 
der" — here also he left out the decree, and slipped in 
4i foreknowledge." To the question, Does God decree 
that men shall commit sin ? he answered, "we have such 
a decree in Acts iv. 27," where our present translation 
refers the conduct (which the original applies to our 
Lord Jesus Christ,) to Herod. Pontius Pilate, and the 



80 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

Jews. When asked who could be guilty, Herod, Pontius 
Pilate, and the Jews, if under a decree which they could 
not avoid, or God, who was supposed by the necessa- 
rian scheme, the maker of that decree ? he answered, 
" that they had no such command given to them, but 
acted according to their own free wills." When asked 
whether God had not made some things avoidable, 
though at the same time decreed to be done and pro- 
phetically announced, as if to be done or accomplished ? 
he answered, " No." When asked whether David (1 
Sam. xxiii. 9 — 14) had not escaped from Keilah, and 
from Saul, notwithstanding the decree to the contrary ? 
he answered, that "God knew of the escape, or he 
should never have promised him to sit on the throne of 
Israel." When asked whether the same thing might 
be a contingency and a certainty ? his reply was, that 
"with men there might be contingencies, but with God 
all things were certainties." To the question whether 
God did not promise the Israelites in Egypt to bring 
them into the laud of Canaan ? his answer was, that 
" this promise was made to Abraham and to his seed." 
When asked whether the promise was not also made 
(Exod. iii. 17) to the elders of Israel? his answer 
was, u No." Let the candid reader weigh, compare, 
examine, and fairly^decide on the side of truth. 



MR, PELTON'S QUESTIONS; ANSWERS GIVEN 
OBSERVATIONS. 



Quest. Do you suppose that God is omniscient ? 

Ans. All the attributes of God are in perfect harmo- 
ny. God is eternal, omnipresent, almighty, holy, just ; 
and good. The justice, and mercy, and goodness of 
God, have as much to do with his Deity, as his know- 
ledge. He is omnipotent, and therefore able to do all 
things : but his power of doing all things is in complete 
unison with his wisdom, justice, holiness, and goodness* 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 81 

In speaking of the divine Being, who is infinite, and 
therefore incomprehensible by our finite understand- 
ings, we ought to be very modest and circumspect, as 
well in our thoughts as in our words. There are a 
great many things in fact which we cannot compre- 
hend ; such as the continuity and adhesion of matter— - 
the vital union of soul and body — the operations of the 
faculties of sense and imagination — of memory and rea* 
son — the infinite nature and perfections of God— -how 
any thing should be of itself, and without any cause of 
its being : how any thing can be made out of nothing, 
&c. ; and yet we must believe all these things. 

Quest. Turning to the 3d section and 1 1th paragraph 
of the Methodist Discipline, from which he quotes, 
u The scriptures tell us plainly what predestination is." 
Do you believe this ? 

Ans. Yes, Sir. — I explained this by some plain ob- 
servations. The clerks, or secretaries, however, who 
were Mr. Pelton's friends, only observe here, that " I 
told a long story, in my mode of showing how inconsis- 
tent with justice in God, or accountableness in man, the 
doctrine of absolute predestination must be." 

What a false representation of the religion of the gos- 
pel must that be, which, instead of being made to consist 
chiefly in pleasing God, is made to consist in displeasing 
and tormenting ourselves. This is not to paint religion 
in her true and amiable character, but rather, like one 
of the furies, with nothing but whips and scorpions 
about her. To imagine for a moment, that God, from 
whom every perfect gift proceeds, does not sincerely 
desire the salvation of men, but has from all eternity 
debarred the great bulk of mankind from all possibility 
of attaining that happiness which he so plainly offers 
them in his word, and by his ministers, would be a me- 
lancholy consideration indeed, if it were true ; but there 
is no ground either from reason or scripture to enter- 
tain such thought. No man will be ruined who does 
not wilfully ruin himself. 

Quest. Has God in his word spoken of things by way 
of prediction, which afterward came to pass ? 



82 - SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

Ans. He has spoken of some things that have, and of 
other things that have not come to pass. He has de- 
clared that Nineveh would be overthrown in forty days ; 
but the people repented, and God was pleased to ex- 
empt them from the punishment which otherwise would 
have fallen upon them. The message of Isaiah the 
prophet to Hezekiah, is another instance. 

God's foreknowledge of a thing, lays no necessity 
upon the event. The event, considered in itself, is fu- 
ture ; with relation to its causes, it is contingent. God 
sees it as both ; and so, as that, which, until it happen, 
or come to pass, may, or may not be, and when it does 
happen, he sees man as the free agent in it, and so un- 
der no necessity. Foreknowledge is not the cause of 
the things that are foreknown. It does not come to 
pass, because it was foreknown : but because it came 
to pass, it was foreknown. Knowledge of a thing is no 
more the cause of that thing happening, than my seeing 
a man is the cause of his existence ; or seeing him agi- 
tated, is the cause of that agitation. 

Quest. Did God know that the Ninevites would re- 
pent ? 

Ans. He knew it, though he left it optional to their 
own free choice. 

God exhorts and encourages to repentance, but never 
forces or constrains. He reasons with man on the ne- 
cessity and propriety of it, and expects it ; as by his 
help and grace afforded, man may repent. He is said 
to be grieved for the impenitency of men ; because 
they may do otherwise and will not. Where God ex- 
horts, we cannot look on the endeavour to be vain or 
unnecessary ; yet by the wilful obstinacy of men, it may 
be rendered vain, and so unproductive of any good ef- 
fect. Because God's exhortations are serious and in 
good earnest, he will certainly punish those, who by a 
wilful contempt of his warnings, plunge themselves into 
final misery. 

Quest. Do you believe that God is a spirit ? 

Ans. Yes : for so it is stated, John iv. 24. 

We often read in scripture of the Spirit of God ; the 
Spirit of Christ ; the Holy Spirit : but we only read in 



SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 83 

the place before alluded to, that God is a spirit, and 
that his worship ought -therefore to be pure and spiri- 
tual. A spirit is not matter, falling under the notice of 
our senses, in being felt or touched. God is not matter, 
for that would contradict his infinity, or immensity. It 
would be equally contradictory to his wisdom, it not be- 
ing imagined how mere matter can understand, or how 
it could distinctly comprehend such a variety of objects 
as fall under the notice and providence of God ; and 
take in at one view, the past, the present, and the fu- 
ture. It would be equally contractory to the free- 
dom and liberty of the Divine Being, for matter has no 
self-moving principle. It would be contrary to his 
goodness also ; for he cannot be just or good, who does 
not know that he is so, and that what he does, is a free 
act. So that if we take away for a moment, the infinity, 
knowledge, liberty, and goodness of God, he is divested 
of his glory, and his most essential perfections. 

Quest. In what did the image of God in man consist^ 
when man was created ? 

Ans. Man was, in a certain degree, the humble re- 
presentative of God. The great Ruler designed that 
man should be his political image, having dominion over 
the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the beasts 
of the field, as well as over every creeping thing. God 
is supreme in heaven : so man was upon earth. The 
moral image of God also was comprehended in the great 
privilege. God is an infinitely holy Being ; and man 
also was holy in his measure. 

Quest. When man was first created, had his soul a 
will ? 

Ans. When man was first created, he possessed no 
soul. 

This answer exciting no small degree of surprise, 
and Mr. Pelton not being able to account for it, or ra- 
ther about to deny it, I proceeded to explain thus : — 
Man's creation differed materially from the creation of 
other parts of the great system. When God created the 
world in general, it was produced in a moment, at 
a stroke. There were, however, several partial crea- 
tions, which together, made up the whole, not only in 



84 SUBSTANGE OF DEBATE* 

a state of existence, but of perfection. Thus he created 
the light, the firmament, the waters, divided the wa- 
ters from the dryland, the grass, trees, and herbs, &c. 
Man's creation widely differed from the other crea- 
tures. When God is about to give existence to a moral, 
rational, and accountable creature, a council is held in 
heaven. " Let us make man." The powers of this 
moral creature, being intended for the present and fu- 
ture states of existence, God adds to the intended crea- 
ture, ci in our own image," and continues to add, " let 
him have dominion over the inferior creatures." But 
instead of producing the entire of man at once, as he 
did the other creatures ; the body of man, which he 
formed of the dust of the ground, came first under the 
creating energy of God ; yet this body continued as an 
immovable statue, having eyes, hands, feet, tongue, 
&c. The great Artist proceeded with his work, and 
breathed into this lifeless statue the breath of life, and 
then man became a living soul. — He still continued his 
great design, and taking one of man's ribs, while 
Adam was laid in a deep sleep, he made a woman, or 
partner for him, which he presented to him. Having 
given this creature eyes, God expects that he would 
employ them in seeing, as well as his ears in hearing, 
his hands in acting, his feet in walking, his tongue in 
speaking, and his mind in thinking. God gave the 
means, and furnished the opportunity, and therefore 
properly demands and claims the proper use and im- 
provement of every power we possess. Man could not 
will any thing, therefore, until he possessed a soul and 
body, in vital union. This explication was thought a 
sufficient solution of the difficulty. 

Quest. When the soul of man was created, did he 
possess a will ? 

Ans. Man possesses a will in all moral cases. 

The power of beginning action without being impel- 
led by any extraneous impulse, is one of the principal 
distinctions between spirit and matter. Matter being 
impelled by other matter, receives an impetus accord- 
ing to the quantity and direction of the force with which 
it is impressed. And without the exertion of some 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. %6 

such force, it remains altogether inert, a mere inactive 
heap. But mind is a principle essentially active ; ca- 
pable of beginning motion, and of communicating it to 
other things, antecedently to the action of any force 
upon itself. The infinite and eternal God, the author 
of all power and wisdom, has given existence and mo- 
tion to all things, by that intrinsic power which mind 
possesses over matter. By the same mind he still con- 
trols all movements of the universe. He has given to 
man also to possess an image of that power, in the con- 
trol which he possesses over his own will, and over all 
the actions of his mind, as well as of his body. _Hence 
God can, with the greatest propriety, punish the moral 
creature, who has knowledge of his duty, and power to 
perform it ; but who wilfully offends against it. 

Quest. How does this " will" influence a man's con= 
duct? 

Ans. His will has the chief government of his de- 
meanour. But to give a right judgment, or to make a 
proper choice, the mutual assistance of other powers 
is called forward, namely, of reason, conscience, com- 
mon sense, memory, and even experience. When these 
set the matter before the eye of the mind, in its true 
size, shape, colours, and importance, the will chooses 
or refuses. 

In all disquisitions concerning the will, it must be 
granted, as a primary principle, that the soul is perfect- 
ly free in all its volitions. It stands on the same foot= 
ing with the clearest testimonies of sense and conscious- 
ness. Every man is conscious that he feels within 
himself the invincible principle of liberty. There is 
no proposition of reason, or perception of sense, more 
convincing than this is. 

Quest. Does a man act in every thing as he wishes 
to do ? 

Ans. With respect to acting in every thing " as be 
wishes to do," there are several cases, to which his 
reason shows him he ought to conform, though his 
pleasure, appetite, or taste, may urge him to decline or 
resist. Though the medicine prescribed by wise di- 
rection be bitter and unpleasant, and therefore to be 

8 



86 SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 

shunned by the suggestions of sense, which is fond of 
sweet and pleasant things, as well as abhorrent of the 
bitter and nauseous ; yet on the hopeful prospect of 
the future good to be derived, the afflicted patient calls 
up all the courage that is necessary to overcome the 
difficulty. In all actions for which man is accountable, 
he is free, and voluntary. 

Liberty, as a principle of moral action, has a much 
more extensive power, than merely controlling our 
general conduct within a certain sphere, according to 
our present inclinations and dispositions. It extends to 
the power of resisting our inclinations, of correcting 
our habits of thinking and acting, which may be in op- 
position to our duty, interest, or pleasure. Of this, we 
need no other convincing proofs than the very obvious 
effects of moral culture upon the mind of man. The 
most ignorant, for instance, may become enlightened ; 
the most rude and uncultivated taste may be refined ; 
the most vicious disposition may be changed, and the 
most irregular life reformed. It is true, when any vio- 
lent passion, or inveterate prejudice, has been allowed 
to take possession of the soul, it is very difficult to ef- 
fect an immediate and radical change. But the ideas of 
difficulty and impossibility are totally distinct. 

Quest. When a man takes what is bitter, does he 
drink it of his own free will ? 

Ans. Something like an unwillingness may for a mo- 
ment spring from the unpleasantness of the taste ; but 
when reason puts in its stronger claims, and the patient 
sees the great interest which he has in the medicine, 
though under the character of a bitter draught, he not 
only submits, but lifts the cup, and swallows the dose. 

This power of choosing what is good and right, 
though apparently unpleasant, extends not only to the 
taking medicinal draughts, in which a person has an in- 
terest, but to the eradication of a right-eye, or the dis- 
section of a right-hand. All this is choice. He sees 
that to retain an eye, or hand, under certain circum- 
stances, would in all probability be inconsistent with the 
preservation of life, and he chooses, and prefers by a 
voluntary act, to resign a part, in order to save the 



SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 37 

whole. Moral habits are equally strong. The ancient 
martyrs had two choices set before them, of a very dif- 
ferent aspect, under the characters of pleasure and 
pain, honour and dishonour, life and death ; with all 
their various attachments. They applied the principle 
of choice, and free will, to the incumbent duty, and they 
found it to stand the test. They accordingly preferred 
death, with all its terrors, to life, and all its pleasures. 

Quest. Calling for the Methodist Discipline, and 
reading 131st sect. 27th paragraph—" We believe that 
the moment Adam fell, he had no freedom of will left, 
but that God, when, of his own free grace, he gave the 
promise of a Saviour to him, and to his posterity, gra- 
ciously restored to mankind a liberty, and power, to ac- 
cept of proffered salvation." Do you believe this ? 

Ans. Yes, Sir. Our privileges were not only for- 
feited in fallen Adam, but our very existence also. But 
God, who is infinitely good in allowing us to exist, has 
restored us through Christ, to a measure of the spi- 
ritual life also. He has graciously afforded us all ne- 
cessary helps for the attainment of present and eternal 
good, and among the rest, the power of a free will and 
choice. 

God's perfections shine in such a manner, as not to 
eclipse each other. His wisdom, justice, mercy, and 
truth, are attributes in which we are very nearly con- 
cerned. Now, if, in order to magnify his mercy, we 
shut out his wisdom and justice ; or if, in order to mag- 
nify his justice, we thrust out his mercy and goodness, we 
act apart highly absurd and unnatural. God has wisely 
made men free agents, in order to display his holiness, 
justice, and truth, by judging them according to their 
moral state and works. God made them rational crea- 
tures, to judge them as rationals, namely, by wise and 
good laws, adapted to their condition, which is a truth 
that stands or falls with the Bible. On this ground, all 
inevitable fate falls for ever to the ground, respecting 
the moral actions of man. While all fair ways and 
means of escaping eternal misery, and of attaining to 
eternal happiness, are afforded to all persons without 
exception, how divinely must the attributes and con* 



SB SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 






duct of God appear ? and how worthy of admiration 
and praise ? But if the inevitable chain of an unchange- 
able decree be once brought in, or hammered on, how 
is bis wisdom blackened ; his truth overthrown ; and 
his justice destroyed ? What a poor figure would the 
justice of God make, if he had said that he would judi- 
cially cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, 
for burying, or not improving a talent he never had, 
or for not receiving an offer of mercy which was never 
made to him ? What human creatures would not won- 
der at a governor, who, after having constituted moral 
agents, in order to govern them according to their free 
natures, and to judge them in righteousness ; ruled them 
by decrees which rendered every part of their con- 
duct inevitable ; yet so unjust as to punish them with 
eternal death, according to a sentence of absolute re- 
probation which he himself had passed upon them, mil- 
lions of years before the foundation of the world ? By 
what art could so strange a conduct be reconciled with 
the high and holy characters of lawgiver and judge of 
all the earth, or with his repeated declarations, that 
justice and equity are the basis of his throne ? 

Quest. Does God pledge himself to pardon sinners, 
however great their sins, if they repent ? 

Ans. God has promised to pardon all sinners that 
repent truly, and sincerely, and turn to him with an 
humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart. Hence 
the terms, " repent and be converted, that your sins 
may be blotted out." Hence the threatening, " ex- 
cept ye repent." Hence the fact and instance, " the 
people of Nineveh repented, and found mercy." 

The offers of the gospel are of immense magnitude. 
Past transgression is forgiven, and past sin covered. 
Guilt, which is the burden of conscience, the sting of 
death, and the worm of hell, is removed from the mind, 
as far as the east is from the west. The reigning power 
of sin is brought under foot, and its dominion taken 
away. The tyranny of Satan is escaped from, even 
that spirit which wrought in them when children of 
disobedience. They are delivered from the curse and 
condemnation of the law. They are brought into & 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 89 

state of favour with God, whose Jovingkindness is bet* 
terthan life. Being justified by faith, they have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. They are 
adopted into his family, of which Christ is the great 
head. Being made children, they are also heirs of 
God, and joint-heirs with Christ ; it being no less than 
their Father's good pleasure to give them the kingdom. 

Quest. Has a man power to repent as long as he lives ? 

Ans. He may repent while the day of grace lasts, 
which is generally as long as life. 

The grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath ap- 
peared to all men, teaching them that denying all un- 
godliness and worldly lusts, they should live soberly, 
and righteously, and godly, in this present world. This 
grace comprehends all spiritual blessings, necessary to 
the change of our sinful condition ; his pardoning mercy 
through his Son, and the renewing and sanctifying im- 
pressions and influences of his Holy Spirit ; directing, 
assisting, quickening, comforting, and finally sealing 
such as hold out to the end in the good ways of the 
Lord. The love of God, through Jesus Christ, is the 
fountain and spring of all this good. And therefore, 
not unto us, when we are convinced ever so deeply, 
and repent ever so sincerely and severely, but to God, 
who affords his heavenly grace to us and to all man- 
kind, in portions sufficient to the circumstances of each, 
be all the glory for ever ascribed. 

Quest. If a man swear away his neighbour's life, may 
he afterward turn and repent ? 

Ans. He may, or he may not. The thing is contin- 
gent, and possible, though not certain. We have in 
the sacred records a variety of instances not to encou- 
rage the commission of sin ; but for the example and 
consolation of penitent sinners, of persons who ad- 
vanced to a very high pitch in evil, who nevertheless 
repented and found mercy. Among others, we have 
the instances of David, Manasseh, and Paul, who re- 
pented and found mercy, after being the agents or in- 
struments in shedding no small quantity of human blood. 
One of the thieves, crucified with Christ, notified as a 
murderer ? repented and found mercy. Many others 

8* 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

re brought from great extremes of evil, to high de- 
grees of good. Their sins which were as scarlet, have 
been washed as white as snow. They have been 
brought from darkness to light, and from the power of 
Satan to God. As high as heaven is above earth, so 
high are God's ways above our ways. He pardons ini- 
quity, transgression, and sin. 

Quest. May a sinner turn and repent at any time ? 

Ans. God's plans are not limited to particulars, but 
are of the general and comprehensive kind. If an 
earthly interest of honour, profit, or pleasure, were 
the offer of one person to another, it would in all like- 
lihood be accepted with gladness at the first. But in 
those offers which respect the spiritual and eternal 
states, connected with which is the bearing of a present 
weighty cross, men, in general, are not so ready to accept 
of them. It is not an easy thing to a man of the world, 
to sell all, and give the produce to the poor, and then 
nakedly follow a naked master, to prison, judgment, and 
death. 

The God of grace and mercy knows how to make 
every possible allowance for men, as the offspring of 
fallen Adam. He does not show himself in the cha- 
racter of an absolute tyrant, but as a gracious benefac- 
tor ; in order to encourage the return even of the most 
degraded to him. By the unfolding of his gospel, he 
brings life and immortality to light, and commands an 
offer of its divine and gracious blessings to be made to 
all mankind, that men may be recovered from their 
lapsed state, and attain to the glory they had forfeited 
by sin. This gospel assures us that God is reconciled, 
and ready to receive returning sinners ; that he has 
provided for them an eternal redemption in Christ 
their mediator ; and an incorruptible inheritance in the 
everlasting kingdom. 

Quest. Who determines the will in man to good ? 
Does God do it, or is it the act of man ? 

Ans. Volition, or the power which the mind pos- 
sesses, and exercises in making a choice, is certainly 
the act of man ; just as thinking, designing, resolving, 
or any other act of the rational nature ; or as seeing, 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 81 

hearing, speaking, are other acts of man. Now that 
God helps and encourages, and promotes every exer- 
tion of the mind and will of man in favour of good, there 
ought to he no doubt, seeing that without him we can 
do nothing. Still, it must be plain to every unbias- 
sed mind, that it could not be a human act, nor could 
man be liable to blame, or properly commendable, if 
the mind were not free to act and choose. 

But, if Mr. Pelton, to maintain the inevitable decree 
of absolute predestination, should insist on bringing in 
the impulse of God to urge a good man to the prefer- 
ence of good, what will he do with the other side of his 
one-legged argument ? Who is it, that, on the same 
ground, irresistibly determines the minds of bad men 
to evil ? If choice in the evil man be free to evil ; 
choice in the good man must be equally free to good. 
Or, if choice in the good man be absolutely determined 
by any irresistible impulse to good, then choice in the 
evil man must be equally impelled by an irresistible 
impulse to evil. The just and holy God must, on 
this principle, be the author of all the evil in the world, 

Quest. Tell us, who determines the will, God, or 
man ? 

Ans. To consent, is a human act. The goodness of 
God directs its appeals, makes its offers, and affords its 
assistance. Still, it cannot be a human act, until man 
shall give his consent, and make his choice or resolu- 
tion. That God is able and ready to confer all the 
help that is necessary, is very evident from his fre- 
quent declarations, promises, threatenings, encourage- 
ments, cautions, and pleadings. Hence the charges 
against those to whom he sent his messages, and offers, 
and promises, which required their acceptance to ren- 
der them effectual. 

When apostles, endowed with a true zeal for the 
glory of God and the good of souls, made an offer of eter- 
nal life to all who would embrace Christ and his gospel, 
they knew no other joy than conversions, nor any other 
reward but that of plucking brands from the burning. 
Instead of dwelling upon the dark scheme of absolute 
decrees, and unconditional predestination, they forcibly 



92 SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE, 

affected their hearers, preaching in season, and out of 
season ; impressing terrors on the guilty, by their 
threatenings, while they made the most open offers of 
eternal life to all that would embrace Christ as their 
Saviour. This mode arrested the attention of the mul- 
titude, while it wrought on the heartwithin. The very 
term " gospel" means good news, which it may be in 
effect, to all that hear and embrace it. 

Quest. When the prophets of Baal, in the days of 
Ahab, appeared before Elijah, and the people cried out 
and turned to the Lord, who determined their wills on 
that occasion ? 

Ans. Elijah had engaged in a religious contest, with 
four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. The God who 
would answer by fire, was to be taken for the true God. 
The prophets of Baal chose one bullock for them- 
selves, and laid it on their altar, and called on the name 
of Baal from morning until the time of evening sacrifice, 
saying, " O Baal, hear us :" but there was no answer. 
They even added dancing up and down, cutting them- 
selves with knives, in the most frantic manner. When 
it came to Elijah's turn, he desired the people to ap- 
proach, while he set about repairing the altar of the 
Lord. He took twelve stones, according to the num- 
ber of the tribes of Israel ; made a trench to detain the 
water that should be poured out all about the altar, and 
to prevent any suspicion that fire might be concealed 
underneath. At the time of evening sacrifice, he ad- 
dressed a solemn prayer to God, that the people might 
know that the answer proceeded from Jehovah, the 
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The prayer being 
finished, the fire of the Lord fell from heaven and con- 
sumed the sacrifice of Elijah. The people, struck 
with awe at the sight of such a miracle, fell on their 
faces and cried, " the Lord, (or Jehovah,) is the God," 
and not Baal. This miracle became the great medium 
in the hand of providence, of convincing the people, and 
of turning them from an idol to the living God. 

Quest. What is the cause of the revivals of religion 
in our day ? For many years persons have not paid 
the same attention to religion as now. 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 93 

Ans. The Lord is pleased to employ a variety of 
ways and means to bring men to know and feel inte- 
rested in the things of their everlasting peace. Some- 
times he warns, by setting life and death before them. 
Sometimes he sends temporal prosperity on a nation 5 
church, or individuals, on which ground he asks, 
" what more could I have done for my vineyard ?" 
Sometimes affliction is employed, as before, or without 
some strokes of this rod, men are too apt to go astray. 
Sometimes he exercises patience and long-suffering,, 
waiting for three years, or threescore years and ten, 
upon some fruitless trees of his vineyard. Sometimes 
he invites in the pressing language of" come unto me, 
all ye weary and heavy laden." Sometimes miracles 
are employed, as on the day of Pentecost. In general 
he empioys the preaching of the word, which is some- 
times quick and powerful. If men would but attend, 
the greatest good would be the happy result. The word 
of God frequently declares in his name, " I would, but 
ye would not." If men would but allow the interests 
of the present life to take their true station " like Mary 
at the Master's feet,^ what a happy change would be 
effected ? If the body were but rendered subservient 
to the soul, the creature to the Creator, and time to 
eternity, then should the peace of men flow as a river, 
and their righteousness as the waves of the sea. If 
men in general would but allow themselves to be se- 
riously affected by a just sense of the presence of the 
omnipresent God, the infinite value of their immortal 
souls, the joys of heaven, and the guilty torments of 
everlasting misery, the most happy consequences would 
follow. 

Quest. How comes it to pass, that some are willing 
to believe, and others are not ? 

Ans. If men will not receive the offers of grace in 
this life, and of glory in the next, it is altogether their 
own fault ; and for which they are justly chargeable. 
As God is pleased to make the offer, this plainly pre- 
supposes, that men are in possession of a capacity of 
accepting of it. 

God never sends an offer of grace and glory to birds, 



94 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

or beasts, or fishes ; because he has formed them 
merely for the present life. And yet, if any man be 
under a decree that is absolutely unchangeable, an 
offer of gospel benefits to birds, or beasts, would be 
as useful to them as to him. Nay, he is supposed to 
be accountable for not receiving what he has no lot or 
part in, or right to. This poor man is supposed to be 
justly liable to future condemnation, because he does 
not see without eyes, hear without ears, and under- 
stand without a rational soul ; God having taken away 
his judgment in spiritual things. With respect to some 
believing, and others not believing, this also is a proof 
of the freedom of the soul, in the act of willing. It is 
not for want of means, but for the abuse or neglect of 
good and sufficient means, that God condemns the un- 
believing. " If I had not done among them the works 
which no other man did, they had not had sin ; but now 
their sin remaineth. This is the condemnation, that 
light is come into the world, and yet men prefer dark- 
ness rather than light. The grace which bringeth salva- 
tion hath appeared to all men. God would have all men 
to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 

That believing or not believing is the free act of 
man, is very evident from this, namely, that such as do 
believe are approved of, and as such will be rewarded ; 
whereas such as do not believe are reproved, and 
threatened with very severe punishment. If a pa- 
tient possessed of reason, die with a sovereign remedy 
before him, prescribed by a physician of the highest 
character, and which has cured thousands, affected in 
the same way ; or if a man wilfully starve himself to 
death, with a plenty and variety of good and wholesome 
food before him, to which he has not only an invitation 
but a right, would it be proper to blame the physician, 
the remedy, or the food ? Surely all the blame must 
fall upon the individuals who obstinately neglect them. 

That God is pleased to afford the power to believe to 
all men, is very evident. Angels are allowed to have 
been holy before they fell, and to have angelic power 
or grace. Adam had Adamic grace. The Lord Jesus 
gave Judas the grace of apostleship. God gave a 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 95 

pound to a servant, or a talent of grace. Capernaum 
had mighty works done it, sufficient to convert and save 
Sodom and Gomorrah. Now could it be to bring Ca- 
pernaum to repentnnce, that those works were wrought ? 
or for a mere flourish ? But it could not be for a flourish, 
for the people who refused to be converted by such 
open proofs of the power of Christ, are said to be 
" inexcusable" for their obstinacy and unbelief. 

Quest. What is the meaning of the term predesti- 
nate ? 

Ans. There is no such word as predestinate. The 
word is, "to predestinate," and then it means to fore- 
ordain, or to predetermine. 

The strongest and surest reasonings in religion are 
grounded on the divine perfections of God. Divine 
Revelation presupposes those for its foundation. Un- 
less we be first persuaded of the providence of God, 
and his particular care of mankind, why should we be- 
lieve that he would make any revelation of his will to 
them ? Unless it be known to us that God is true, what 
foundation is there for belief in his word ? What will 
the laws and promises of God signify, unless we be 
first assured of his authority and faithfulness ? Nothing 
is to be admitted as a revelation from God, which flatly 
contradicts his essential perfections ; and consequently 
if any person should pretend Divine Revelation for 
the foundation, "that God has from all eternity abso* 
lutely decreed the eternal ruin of the greatest part of 
mankind," without any respect to the sins and demerits 
of men, I am as certain that this doctrine cannot be 
from God, as 1 am sure that God is good and just ; be* 
cause this clashes with those perfections which are es- 
sential to the Deity. This is a thing which no good 
man would do if it were in his power ; and therefore 
it cannot be justly believed that infinite goodness would 
do it. This is a thing which no affectionate father 
would do concerning his children ; and therefore must 
be altogether irreconcileable with the character of a 
heavenly Father. Therefore, if an apostle or angel 
from heaven were to teach any doctrine which plainly 



96 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

overthrows the goodness and justice of God, instead of 
believing it I ought to reject it. 

All the perfections of God must be considered in 
conjunction, so as to reconcile them one with another. 
We are not to separate them, so as to consider them 
singly, without reference to the harmony of the whole. 
The greatest mistakes in religion have certainly sprung 
from this root. We are not to frame such wide and 
large notions of one perfection, as to exclude all the 
rest. That cannot be a divine perfection which does 
not agree with, or which contradicts all the other perfec- 
tions of God. If this had been properly considered, 
men would not, by being too intent on exalting God's 
absolute sovereignty, and putting his other perfections 
into the back ground, have spoken those hard things 
about predestination. For the sovereignty of God 
does by no means set him above the eternal laws of 
goodness, truth, and righteousness. And if this were pro- 
perly considered, men would not, by dwelling upon the 
justice and severity of God, be so swallowed up in des- 
pair. For God is not so severe, but he can be merci- 
ful to a true penitent. This, well considered, would 
check the presumption of those who encourage them- 
selves in sin by fancying they have to deal with a God 
who is all mercy. 

To understand the Apostle Paul on the subject of 
predestination, we must have reference to the context 
and scope of his argument. He tells us that all things 
work together for good to them that love God : that 
such are called according to his purpose. This is a 
metaphor taken from inviting guests to a feast. All 
things work together for our good, on the supposition 
that we love God ; but not otherwise. He does not 
say that all things concur to the everlasting happiness 
of those who are called, merely ; but of those who be- 
ing called, love God. For how repeatedly has God 
cause to say, " I called, but ye refused." If we be in 
the visible church of Christ, and professing the faith of 
the Gospel, we are unquestionably called. As to what 
is termed " effectual calling," as distinguished from the 
general calling, or invitation of the Gospel, it is a dis- 



SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 9f 

unction which men have invented, without any warrant 
from the sacred writings. Our calling, therefore, is 
considered hy the apostle, as a self-evident proposi- 
tion, which nobody denies ; or, which indeed no 
Christian should call in question. He tells us, that 
" whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be 
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the 
first-born among many brethren. Moreover,whom he did 
predestinate, them he also called ; and whom he called, 
them also he justified ; and whom he justified, them 
also he glorified ." H ere the apostle shows, that our call- 
ing is an argument that all things work together for our 
good, by showing the several steps which the wisdom 
and goodness of God settled, in order to complete our 
salvation. He foreknows, or designs at the beginning 
of the scheme, to bestow the favour and privilege of 
being God's people on any set of men. This is the 
foundation, or first step of our salvation, namely, the 
purpose or grace of God, which was given in Christ 
Jesus, before the world began. Even then he favour- 
ed us. He knew the Gentiles then, when the scheme 
was laid, and before any part of it was transacted. 
When God knew us at the formation of the Gospel 
scheme, he predestinated or designed us to be conformed 
to the image of his Son. The Gentiles whom he de- 
signed to call into his Church, (together with the Jews,) 
he has graciously called and invited, by the preaching 
of the Gospel, to believe on his Son Jesus Christ, and 
to accept of salvation in his name. When the apostle 
speaks here, he speaks of what was past, referring to 
what had already taken place; for the calling, justify- 
ing, and glorifying, are here represented as having 
already taken place, as well as the foreknowledge and 
predestination. It is therefore reasonable to suppose, 
that the apostle refers to what God had already done 
among the Jews and Gentiles, and not to what he would 
do in future. Besides calling them, he justified them, 
pardoning the sins of those Gentiles, who, with hearty 
repentance and true faith, turned to him ; and also glo- 
rified them ; honouring and dignifying them with the 
highest privileges, having alreadv removed many ©f 

9 



08 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

them to the heavenly kingdom, while many more were 
on the way thither ; and affording the promise that such 
as love him, and continue faithful unto death, shall in- 
herit that glory as an everlasting reward. 

The whole of this is conditional, as far as it relates 
to the final salvation of any person who professes 
the religion of Christ ; for the promises are made to 
character, and not to persons, as some have injudi- 
ciously and even falsely affirmed. The apostle insists 
upon character from the beginning of the chapter. 
Thus he informs us, that " there is no condemnation to 
them (whoever they are) that are in Christ Jesus, and 
who, as such, walk not after the flesh, but after the 
Spirit. 9 ' At the entrance on this subject, he takes 
care to settle the connexion between our calling and 
our love, thus " All things work together for good to 
them that love God, that are called according to his 
purpose," for those only who love God, cati reap any 
benefit by this predestination, vocation, or any other 
instance of God's favour. 

Quest. When God predestinates, will that take 
place ? 

Ans. It may, or it may not. If one man should kill ano- 
ther, and we at the same time undertake to imagine that 
God had inevitably decreed it, we cannot possibly help 
looking on God as the author of the murder. If God, 
from all eternity, predestinated a certain number of men 
first to sin, and then to punishment, in consequence of 
the sins which they could not possibly avoid, the plain 
consequence must be that the author of the unchange- 
able decree must be chargeable with what he laid on 
them, the avoidance or escape from which was utterly 
beyond the application of any knowledge or power they 
possessed. 

If the principle of absolute predestination can, for 
a moment, be supposed as capable of being acted upon, 
electing some persons unconditionally while it repro- 
bates others, in consequence of an unchangeable decree, 
then the elect must be saved, do what they will, and 
the reprobates be damned, do what they can, seeing 
that the lots of both, however different, are already 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 99 

determined beyond all possibility of change. To at- 
tribute such a decree as this to a holy and righteous 
God, would be execrably shocking. To an unbiassed 
reader, it must appear that as God chose his ancient 
people, the Jews, and they became his peculiar people ; 
so now the whole body of Christians, constituted of 
converted Gentiles, as well as Jews, are admitted to 
the same honour ; they are selected from all the rest 
of the world. On this ground, who shall lay any thing 
to the charge of God's elect, who abound in knowledge, 
love, and obedience to God, according to his command ? 
On this divine principle, the apostle might well add, 
"According as he hath chosen us (Gentiles) in him, 
before the foundation of the world, that we should be 
holy and without blame before him in love." 

The first step which the goodness of God took in 
the execution of his purpose of election, with regard 
to the Gentiles, was to rescue them from their wretch- 
ed situation of idolatry and sin, by sending his Son 
Jesus Christ to die for mankind, and to afford them a 
claim to the privileges of the Gospel. With regard to 
this great and universal change, the Scripture is most 
express. " That he is the Lamb of God taking away 
the sins of the world. — That he gave himself for our 
sins. — That he is able to save to the uttermost. — That 
he bought, purchased, and redeemed us. — That he 
wills all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of 
the truth." 

As God sent the Gospel to bring the Gentiles out of 
Heathenism, making them welcome to the privileges of 
his people, he is said "to call them." Hence the 
apostle directs an epistle, To all (the Christians) that 
are at Rome, called to be saints. Hence the expres- 
sion and declaration, "God is faithful, by whom ye were 
called into the fellowship of his Son." Hence the ex- 
hortation, " I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the 
vocation wherewith ye are called." Hence we are 
commanded to "show forth the praises of him who 
hath called us from darkness into his marvellous light." 

Though the election of the Gentiles be a leading 
feature in the Gospel dispensation, yet God is net 



100 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

even then to be looked on as having cast off his aa~ 
cient people. When the Gospel was preached to every 
creature, the first offer was made to the Jews. When 
Paul came to Thessalonica, as his manner was, he went 
to the synagogue of the Jews, and on three sab- 
bath-days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. 
Some of them believed, and associated with Paul and 
Silas. It appears to have been Paul's practice upon 
his first arrival at a place to repair to the synagogue, 
and to make the Jews the first offers of eternal life 
through Jesus Christ. At Antioch, in Pisidia, his 
words were, " It was necessary that the word of God 
should have been first spoken to you." If the Jews 
rejected his ministry, he then quitted the synagogue, 
and betook himself to a Gentile audience. At Corinth ? 
upon his first coming thither, he reasoned in the syna- 
gogue every sabbath, but when the Jews opposed them- 
selves, and refused to hearken to his calls, he departed 
thence, expressly telling them that "from henceforth 
I will go unto the Gentiles." All this, and a great deal 
more, must furnish proof, not only that God has no 
pleasure in the death of a sinner ; but that what was 
said with respect to the rejection of the Jews, did not 
prevent them from having the first offers of eternal 
life made to them. 

God's promises or decrees, in many recorded in* 
stances, have not come to pass, for want of using the 
proper means. We have a remarkable instance in the 
history of Joshua. Prior to the taking of Jericho, it 
was declared to Joshua that he should certainly become 
master of that place, Nay, so peremptory was the 
decree, and so express the declaration of it, that it was 
spoken of as if it had already taken place. " I have 
given into thy hand Jericho," Josh. vi. 2. But the Israel- 
ites crossed God's decree, by neglecting the means of 
its accomplishment. The Lord promised to Joshua, 
that " no man should be able to stand before him ; and 
that he never would fail him or forsake him/' Josh. 
i. 5. Now this peremptory decree of the end, was 
rendered void, by a certain flaw in the use of the 
means. The disobedience of Achan (for instance) re- 



SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 101 

versed God's decree. The condition upon which God 
built his decree was, " turn not to the right-hand or to 
the left, that thou mayest prosper." Achan made one 
of those turnings : in consequence of which the de- 
cree failed, and we find Joshua prostrate before the 
ark, a whole day with his clothes rent, and dust upon 
his head, lamenting the flight of Israel before the city 
of Ai. God's answer to Joshua, on inquiring the 
cause, was very plain, namely, that " Israel sinned, in 
taking of the accursed thing — therefore, the children 
of Israel could not stand before their enemies — neither 
will I be any more with you except ye destroy the ac- 
cursed thing," Josh. vh. 1 — 13. Many other plain 
and positive proofs might be advanced. 

Quest. Turn to 3d sect. 2d paragraph of the Metho- 
dist Discipline, " And so likewise he predestinates or 
foreappoints all disobedient unbelievers to damnation, 
not without, but according to his foreknowledge of 
their works from the foundation of the world." 

Ans. Turn to 13th paragraph, and there you will 
find a complete answer. 

We are persuaded that because God's foreknowledge 
is infinite, he foreknows future contingencies, and we 
think we should insult both his holiness and his om- 
niscience, if we did not believe that he could both fore- 
see that men would sin, yet not necessitates them to 
do so. He could foresee that Judas would be unfaith- 
ful without putting him under absolute necessity to be 
so. As the Lord Jesus loved the rich young man, 
though inclined to be covetous and fond of the world ; 
so he loved his poor covetous disciple. For had he 
hated him, he can hardly be acquitted from the charge 
of having acted the part of a dissembler, by showing 
him for some years as much love as he did to the other 
apostles. The sin of Judas and of the young man, was 
of themselves, and therefore they are justly blamed 
for it. 

Plain Scripture testimony in many instances con- 
firms the just and fundamental principle, that when 
God is pleased to influence or work upon the soul of 
man, he expects attention and faithfulness from him : 
9* 



102 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

and that when man, as a moral agent, grieves or 
quenches the good Spirit, that this conduct persevered 
in, will be attended with misery here and hereafter. 
This unfaithfulness or sin of man, God declares, and 
even swears is none of his work ; and that men them- 
selves are to be looked on as chargeable with it. Then 
how much more reasonable and scriptural is it to allow 
a reprobation of justice, or a casting off in punishment, 
which is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of free- 
will and free-grace, than absolute, inevitable reproba- 
tion, contrived by a just and holy God, against his 
creature man, and which he could not possibly avoid ? 
The reprobation of justice which is perpetually assert- 
ed in the Gospel, leaves the stubbornly wicked entirely 
inexcusable, and God perfectly righteous, as a govern- 
or and a judge. Whereas a reprobation produced by 
a contrivance, which peremptorily obliges a man to be 
first a wicked offender, and then a miserable sufferer, 
must render such wretches excusable, as being con- 
demned for doing what an omnipotent power had for- 
ced them to do. This unavoidable reprobation must 
stigmatize Christ, " whose words were grace and truth," 
for offering to all a salvation, from which he had pre- 
viously debarred the most of them. 

Quest. Look at the 12th paragraph of the Methodist 
Discipline. Do you believe that God from the founda- 
tion of the world, knew of all men believing or not be- 
lieving, and according to his foreknowledge, chose or 
elected all obedient believers to salvation, and reproba- 
ted all disobedient unbelievers as such to damnation ? 
Ans. Yes ; but not without taking in at the same 
time their believing or disbelieving, according to which 
he elected or reprobated them, not electing or repro- 
bating^in effect, until they accept or reject his offers of 
mercy. 

God saw their believing as soon as he saw the elec- 
tion of some, and their unbelief as soon as he saw the 
reprobation of others. And if we dare speak of the 
Deity after the manner of men, he must have seen the 
conditions, accepted or rejected, in the order of things 
before he elected or rejected. This is his plan to 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 103 

the present day, and all over the world. The commis- 
sion given to the heralds of his free-grace was 9 
" Preach my gospel to every creature : he that be- 
lieveth shall be saved : but he only that believeth not 
shall be damned. Turn unto me, and I will turn unto 
you." 

The gospel of Christ, instead of teaching us to see 
God, the great, the just, the wise, through the horrid 
medium of absolute decrees, instructs us to entertain 
the most pure and exalted conceptions of the universal 
Father, and righteous Governor of the world ; as the 
standard of all purity and perfection ; conducting his 
whole administration with an eternal regard to justice., 
truth, and equity. Now when the just, the holy, and 
true God, asserts that everlasting ruin is avoidable, if 
men will but turn from their evil ways, which thing he 
also commands ; surely we, as believers in the plain 
unequivocal declaration of God, must allow that eternal 
misery may be escaped on the Gospel plan. To say 
that this God is the first cause, mover, and promoter of 
the ruin of the finally lost, is most barbarous, as well 
as blasphemous. 

Quest. Why did God create men, whom he knew 
would never believe ? 

Ans. God did not absolutely hinder their unbelief, 
as his wisdom saw that a world where free-agents and 
necessary agents are mixed, is better than a world 
stocked with nothing but necessary agents, that is, 
creatures absolutely hindered from sinning. Because 
his distributive justice would be displayed in no other 
way than by the creation of accountable free-agents, made 
with reference to a future judgment. Because it would 
be as absurd to necessitate free-agents, as to bid free- 
agents be, that they might not be free-agents. And 
because, when God saw that the free-agency of his 
creatures might introduce sin, he determined to over- 
rule or remedy it, in such a manner as would, upon the 
whole, render the world with all its voluntary evil and 
voluntary good, infinitely better than a world of neces- 
sary agents, where nothing would be displayed but an 
inferior sort of good, which would not admit of the 



104 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

exercise of God's providential wisdom, or distribu- 
tive justice. 

That God's foreknowledge does not stand in the way 
of a sinner any more than his afterknowledge, must 
appear evident to every unprejudiced person ; particu- 
larly so, when conversant in the sacred word. Paul 
advises that " supplications, prayers, intercessions, and 
giving of thanks, be offered to God for all men, that 
they may be saved, and come to the knowledge of the 
truth." We are informed, that " we have one God f 
and one Mediator between God and man, who gave him- 
self a ransom for all" — that "God has concluded all 
under sin, to have mercy upon all" — that " the grace of 
God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all" — 
that " God spared not his Son, but freely gave him up 
for us all." And he commands repentance, and remis- 
sion of sins to be preached to all men. 

The scriptures are very express in bringing the 
whole human race under the influence of divine grace, 
and within the reach of a present and everlasting sal- 
vation. While those Scriptures discover the moral 
evils of men, they at the same time point to a door of 
hope, wide enough to admit every true penitent. 
They never lose sight of the possibility of gaining this 
great end. Their arguments are sufficient to over- 
come all opposition. How a person can read a decla- 
ration, embracing all men, without exception, whom 
God would have to be saved, and to come to the know- 
ledge of the truth ; under the pleasing encouragement 
that powerful pleadings are offered up for all by an all- 
sufficient Mediator, who gave himself a ransom for all 
men, and } r et continue under the influence of an irre- 
versible ante-mundane decree, must be altogether in- 
comprehensible to a candid mind, which takes the 
truth according to plain, obvious statement. 

Now, after the plain, as well as strong proofs and 
reasons which have been advanced, is it rational to sup- 
pose that a reader can be found, who can still positive- 
ly aver, that the very comprehensive word " all," as 
often as it occurs, must be stinted to mean only a part. 
or a few, to the utter exclusion of the great remainder 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 105 

of the human race ? Whenever the great Author of 
Christianity addressed his numerous auditors, he made 
the most liberal offers to all. Even their bodily wants 
more than once drew from his very great sympathy, not 
only a plentiful supply for thousands, but a very great 
surplus. And if his compassion yearned to see the peo- 
ple hungry, and faint, where no bread could be pro- 
cured, how much more solicitous is he to bestow the 
bread of everlasting life ? 

Mr. Pelton's questions being at an end, about thirty 

minutes before the conclusion of the stated time, we 

- quietly retired from the field, and our several friends 

were left at free will to pass their own free thoughts on 

our free strictures. 

A verbal debate, however, was not enough for Mr. 
Pelton. Whether he thought he had forgotten any 
thing in the debate, or that the irregularity of debate 
might be corrected through the medium of the press, he 
took advantage of my absence, and after twelve months 
he published a libel on Methodism, which I think my- 
self called upon to answer. 

From what has been stated already, it must appear to 
every unprejudiced reader, that the divine Being, so 
far from being chargeable with contriving the unavoida- 
ble misery of his creatures, frequently and importunate- 
ly remonstrates with them on the unreasonableness of 
bringing themselves into those circumstances. " What 
more could I have done for my vineyard ?" " Why will 
ye die ?" &c. are plain proofs of this. In one view, the 
divine Nature commands our most solemn reverence ; 
in others, it attracts the warmest affection of our hearts : 
but in every possible manifestation, it is entitled to our 
highest attention and respect. W T e never make the at- 
tempt to lift our hearts to God in the way of duty and 
sincerity, without being truly profited, both in mind 
and practice. Should his almighty power, his infinite 
wisdom, his strict justice, and his unspotted holiness, 
oppress us, we are sure to find relief in his goodness 
and mercy. To imagine for a moment, that this great 
and good God can be the secret contriver of sin and 



106 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

punishment, must wrap his divine character in shades 
of unapproachable darkness. 

It was not enough, that Mr. Pelton had already un- 
dertaken to contend openly with one Methodist minis- 
ter; he now undertakes, and pledges himself to break in 
pfeces their whole sj^stem, imposing on it all scurrilous 
and evil names falsely, while he openly acknowledges 
it has attached to it many pious and upright professors, 
who were converted and brought to God by it. 

He has the effrontery to call the system of condemn- 
ing infants before they are born, and dooming millions 
to unavoidable ruin, by the name of Protestantism, and 
the church in which he preaches those doctrines, the 
true Protestant church exclusively. On the same 
ground he asserts, that the Methodists, and others, are 
Catholics or Papists, because they believe that men are 
called upon to use the grace of God that is given to 
them, to work out their own salvation. On this ground, 
it would not be a difficult thing to prove Mr. Pelton 
himself to be a Papist or Catholic. For instance : 

They believe that there is a God, infinitely wise, 
good, just, and holy. 

That he governs every department of the world by 
his divine providence. 

That his infinite perfections are beyond all human 
and angelic comprehension. 

That he subsists in a unity of three divine Persons, 
i. e. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

That the second Person condescended to be born, 
and live, and die for us. 

That man is possessed of a rational, moral, immortal 
soul, that shall never die. 

That rational man is an accountable creature, in op- 
position to infants, lunatics, and madmen. 

That, as he has a law to live by, God expects con- 
formity. 

That we must first die, and then stand before the 
judgment-seat of Christ. 

That heaven and hell shall be the final states and 
conditions of men. 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 107 

Now I would candidly interrogate Mr. Pelton, whe- 
ther he is not of the same faith with the Catholics, in 
all, or most of the particulars enumerated in the fore- 
going list, which might be swelled to a far greater 
amount ? And if it be just to charge the Methodists, in 
an indiscriminate and wholesale manner, with being 
Papists, for holding doctrines which are held by almost 
all Protestant churches ? 

To outweigh this scale by a still heavier counter- 
poise, and measure back again to Mr. Pelton, what he 
has meted to his neighbour in an indiscriminating man- 
ner, he must allow me, merely for the sake of showing 
the unsoundness of his argument, to give him for a mo- 
ment a seat in the lowest abyss of diabolical misery. 
Of the devils, it is said, they believe and tremble also. 
And would Mr. Pelton refuse to go thus far with Satan, 
Apollyon, and Belzebub ? On this principle, Mr. Pel- 
ton is a Jew ; for they acknowledge the great Jehovah^ 
and the Oid Testament. He is a Samaritan ; for they 
acknowledged the five books of Moses. He is a Turk 5 
and a Persian ; for they acknowledge the supreme go- 
vernment of Allah, or Eiohim. However, he must not 
forget his relationship to Pharaoh and the ancient 
Egyptians, who insisted, in the most tyrannical manner, 
that the poor, helpless, and utterly disabled Israelites^ 
should make bricks to the usual tale or number, and 
quality also, without any straw, or means to do the 
work. 

The following passage in Miller's life of Huet, a 
French bishop, in the seventeenth century, will per- 
fectly accord with the sentiments of every true Protes- 
tant Christian. The bishop, in speaking of some works 
written by himself, proceeds — " But long before I oc- 
cupied myself with these subjects, I had conceived a 
much more important undertaking, to which, indeed, 
more than to any thing else, all my studies and contem- 
plations hitherto had a reference. This was an expo- 
sition and elucidation of the Holy Scriptures. From my 
childhood, such a veneration for its divine origin, and 
such a high estimation of the excellence of this book, had 
taken root within me, that though my youthful spirit 



108 SUBSTANCE OF BEBATE. 

delighted, and almost revelled in the beauties of the 
fine arts, and the mathematics, it always returned with 
pleasure to these sacred records, as feeling itself in 
them at home, and in the former only as a wanderer 
and a pilgrim. And yet, at that time, I had no know- 
ledge of the Hebrew language, and. could not extend 
my research beyond the narrow limits of the Vulgate. 
But having broken through these bounds, and, as it 
were, standing at the fountain itself, my soul felt an in- 
creasing relish for this study, and I believed that I now 
saw the mysteries of heaven without a vail. My in- 
creasing and more intimate acquaintance with those sa- 
cred books convinced me, that we should devote all our 
care, diligence, meditations, and nightly lucubrations, 
to the study and understanding of them alone. Being 
therefore now released from the bondage of the court, 
I again betook m) self to the study of the Hebrew, com- 
bining with it that of the Syriac and Arabic ; and be- 
cause the knowledge of languages requires long and re- 
peated exercises, 1 never suffered one day to pass, be- 
tween the years 1681, and 1712, without employing 
one or two hours upon it, being a period of thirty- 
one years; nor did lever suffer business, journeys, 
or even illness, to interfere with this resolution. 
Thus, during that period of time, I have read the 
whole Old Testament four and twenty times, with 
the greatest delight, and essential benefit to my 
soul." Thus one of the most excellent and en- 
lightened men of that age, remained in some degree in 
the dark, till the Spirit of God, by a progressive work, 
granted the rays of his light and truth to shine upon 
him. Surely, this should make us more candid and for- 
bearing, in judging of the states of men's minds in other 
persuasions, differing from our own ; conscious that we 
ourselves may have yet much to learn, before we attain 
to perfection. 

When Mr. Pelton undertakes to appear in public, it 
is not as an "author only," to teach or enlighten the 
world with some new discovery as to subject or method, 
but in the dogmatic character of a critic and reviewer. 
He forms himself into an absolute judge, forcing his 



SUBSTANCE OP DEBATE. 109 

way, assuming the bench, and exercising all the judicial 
powers in sentences utterly inconsistent with the clear- 
ness and strength of evidence, which he thinks he can 
lay aside or control, with " it must be so," or " so it is 
appointed." 

Instead of examining with coolness, or judging with 
impartiality, in an unprejudiced or unbiassed temper, 
Mr. P. begins with scurrility and nicknames, to preju- 
dice his readers also. Intending to hold up the Christian 
doctrines, and ecclesiastical discipline of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, to the gaze of surprise, or the laugh 
of contempt, he employs a plentiful profusion of what 
may be called the " tar and feather" of illiberal and 
unchristian prejudice, as well as obloquy of all sorts. 

To begin his abuse, he searches the English vocabu- 
lary, which contains one hundred thousand words, for 
one which can best express the thought which corrodes 
his heart, until it be affixed to the front of the system 
which he intends to stigmatize. This secret comes out 
at last, under the shape and name of " The Absurdities 
of Methodism." As the horse-fly to the sore, or as the 
ravens to the carcass, Mr. Pelton anticipates solid satis- 
faction and abundant pleasure, in imagining his deep 
rooting into Methodism will discover to the world, what 
was hitherto a most impervious secret. 

I greatly question whether Mr. Pelton knows the 
proper meaning of the word " Absurdity ;" and wonder 
how he can, with any assurance, apply it to others, 
while he and his unsightly system, are so highly 
chargeable with it. The great Instructer, himself, ad- 
vises that we should first remove the beam from our 
own eye, before we undertake to pull the mote from 
that of another, te it not an absurdity of absurdities, 
to insist on the usual number and quality of the bricks, 
without affording any straw ? To demand the end with- 
out affording the means ? To demand lectures on all 
shades and colours from the blind ? To condemn the 
deaf because they do not notice the difference between 
the high and low in sounds ? To correct the dumb, be- 
cause they do not employ graceful tones and emphasis ? 
To cast a lame person into the ditch, because he does 

10 



110 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

not clear the way instantaneously for a rapid stage- 
coach ? To burn the dead man, but just expired, be- 
cause he does not inter, or intomb himself? To expe! 
all the poor from a church, because they cannot contri- 
bute talents of gold or silver to the general fund ? To 
throw down the suckling of some days or months old, 
because it is not a regular, graceful walker ? Or, in 
other words, how absurd and foolish must it be for God 
to expect a harvest of glory at last, where the seeds of 
grace were never allowed to be sown ? Or only all 
rank weeds planted by an omnipotent hand ? All these, 
and a thousand other instances, are but faint pictures 
of an absurd system, in which Mr. Pelton makes God 
first contrive the irremediable ruin of myriads, and then, 
by the great acts of creation, preservation, and redemp- 
tion, put it in the road of sure accomplishment, assuring 
the persons, at the same time, that he gave them ta- 
lents (though altogether imperceptible to their notice 
or recollection,) for which they are accountable to him. 
Now to <>ay that God, as a sovereign Lord, can order 
their eyes to be blinded, and their hands to be tied be- 
hind their backs, and yet demand a good improvement 
of every trust he has confided to them, is downright ab- 
surdity and tyranny. 

Like one of old, Mr. Pelton is sure to have two se- 
parate bags for holding faults or imperfections. In 
that which is suspended before, and under the eyes, he 
has placed his neighbour's faults, where he is sure they 
shall frequently fell under observation. Hence, in under- 
taking to show what he calls the tfc absurdities of Metho- 
dism,"he is sure to put them in an unfavourable dress, and 
a most glaring aspect. He makes a three-fold division of 
this unfriendly labour. To show that the free-will of 
the Methodists is an essential doctrine of the Roman 
Catholics, he pledges himself to prove that free-will in 
man is contrary even to reason and providence. 

On the very threshold of his undertaking, Mr. Pelton 
begins to show what we may justly expect in the sequel. 
It would have been well, however, if he had looked 
cautiously, before he plunged deeply. He begins with 
boasting, that if he can but prove half the charges which 



SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE, 111 

he brings against Methodism, they must amount to an 
entire conviction that the whole of the system is 
wrong;. Here also he must appear to have fallen deep- 
ly into absurdities, or even to have sunk into a quag- 
mire, in pursuit of a shining fly. He has, by a good 
deal of scrutiny and research, as well ashy the joint as- 
sistance of his contentious friends, collected three 
charges or statements, and brought them into open court 
for proof. To use his own language, his boast now is," that 
if he can only prove the half of those three charges, 
he shall gain an open verdict. Does he mean, that 
having produced three charges, if he can only prove a 
charge and a half, that he shall be openly approved of; 
and so shall gain an entire victory ? Now if one charge 
and a half should be proved to be absolutely false and 
unfounded, will an entire verdict be given to him from 
partial proofs ? Besides, how to select a charge and a 
half out of three charges for proof, is not very easy of 
solution, and compatible with plajn reason. Will he, 
in order to effect this purpose, take the first charge en- 
tirely, and half the second, or third ? Or the second 
entirely, and half the first, or third ? Or the third en- 
tirely, and half the first, or second ? Or will he take his 
charges in halves, or uneven shares ? What absurdity ! 
Adding a little more of his legerdemain, he under- 
takes to assert, that when he has made good the fore- 
going charge and a half, no matter in what proportions 
or divisions, that, " let who will be found right in the 
day of the Lord, the Methodist cannot." Here is ano- 
ther curious transition, from the doctrine of the Metho- 
dist, to the Methodist himself, and consequently to every 
Methodist. By this sweeping stroke Mr. Pelton dashes in 
pieces every individual who cannot pronounce his test of 
bigotry, and say " shibboleth," with as good a tone and 
emphasis as himself. But this is perfectly consistent 
with the absolute and undistinguishing system of de- 
creeing nations to everlasting ruin, without any respect 
to their voluntary character. How cruel must an ad- 
vocate of that system be, who, in consequence of his 
showing himself obliged to give it some support, must 
shut up the gates of heaven against every man of every 



112 SUBSTANCE OF DEBATE. 

nation, who fears God and works righteousness, because 
he does not believe with him every letter of the dark 
decree ? 

How can Mr. Pelton, as a firm believer in everlasting 
and immutable decrees, consistently with this faith, 
blame the Methodists for their doctrines or discipline, 
seeing that every jot and tittle, connected with univer- 
sal opinion and practice, were irresistibly forced on 
them by unchangeable predestination ? Must it not ap- 
pear a most glaring and notorious absurdity in Mr. P., 
first to put the Methodist Church and system under the 
fatal decree, which they could not prevent, and then to 
blame and punish them for it ? 

Another of his flat contradictions is, the statement 
with which he closes bis remarks, where he tells us 
that " he looked back to the fatal rock on which he 
himself had well nigh made shipwreck ; and that he 
fears for the multitudes who are resting upon it." I 
wonder Mr. Pelton does not occasionally recollect him- 
self, and not attempt to keep his experience under pro- 
per subordination to his system. His creed binds him 
to maintain the final perseverance of the saints ; and 
that, if men be once in grace, they shall continue in 
grace for ever. His experience, however, contradicts 
this : for he tells us, that " he also was in danger of 
shipwreck. 5 ' 

Mr. Pelton goes on to subdivide his three original 
divisions into nine sections, still leaving us in the dark 
with respect to the number of sections which are to 
comprehend a division — whether there be three regu- 
lar sections to each of the divisions, by which plan the 
mind of the reader may be kept from mixing and com- 
bining particulars which in themselves are altogether 
separate and unconnected. 

REMARKS ON SECTION I. 

In this section, Mr. Pelton, to raise unfounded pre- 
judice to the highest, undertakes to begin by attracting 
the eye of staring vacancy to a puff which he dignifies 
by the name of an undertaking " to compare the views 



REMARKS. 213 

(he meant to say, the separate and very different 
views) of Mr. Wesley, the Pope, and the Bible, con- 
cerning personal election, reprobation, and the de- 
crees." Instead of mentioning the decrees alone, or 
unsupported, he ought to have given their full dress, 
andintrodued them in their true character, as unco i- 
tional decrees. He acted another sleight-of-hand p «*t 
also with respect to reprobation in this particular 
place. For while he had no objection to bring in 
" personal election/' he ought to have joined it with 
1 ' personal reprobation." 

To effect this purpose the more readily, and show 
his progress the more clearly, he undertakes another 
division, namely, of the Christian world into two parts, 
one of which is to consist of "such as hold the doc- 
trines of free-grace, and such as hold the doctrine of 
free-will." Here again he plunges still deeper in the 
mire, as if free-grace and free-will were opposites, or 
incompatibles. His division, to be in point, should be 
"into such as hold, that God is willing that all men 
should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the 
truth ; and such as hold that he has put a stumbling- 
block, called an impassible decree, in the way of nine- 
tenths of the whole human race, because he can do 
what he pleases with his own," and make them repro- 
bates first, to destroy them afterward. 

Is not this division a presumptuous attempt to con- 
found power with right, in the Supreme Being ? And 
because he has the power to predestinate any portion of 
his creatures to eternal misery, he has also a just right 
to do so ; than which nothing is more false, because 
being unnecessary, it would be unjust. It is therefore 
as impossible for omnipotent justice to commit an act of 
injustice, as it is for infinite truth to lie, infinite wisdom 
to err, or infinite holiness or purity to be chargeable with 
sin. 

To show what a coat of many colours the foregoing 
statement is, made up of truth and error interwoven, 
I need but point the candid and unprejudiced reader to 
many scriptures. That the state of the whole human 
race, as fallen in Adam, was deplorable, there Gan be ne 
10* 



114 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

doubt. We, as his offspring, forfeited even our exist- 
ence in him ; but as connected with Christ, the second 
Adam, we are made partakers of an inward and spiritual 
grace, of the influence of which upon the heart, at 
ever so early a period, many retain a very pleasing re- 
flection. And besides a state of existence in grace, 
while sojourners here, we may enjoy a glorious and 
everlasting inheritance in heaven. As Mr. P. builds 
his awful fabric on the foundation of absolute election 
and reprobation, it is necessary to begin with these. 

OF ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

Mr. Pelton thinks that the sovereignty of God can- 
not be properly supported otherwise, than by the opi- 
nion that he foreordained some to everlasting happi- 
ness, and others to everlasting misery, without any 
reference to the good or evil to be done by them re- 
spectively ; and also that he called them into existence 
for this very purpose. Some Calvinists indeed, who 
attempt to differ from their brethren, are almost 
brought to acknowledge, that this absolute foreordina- 
tion looks too much like an impeachment of the divine 
benevolence and justice, and suppose that they avoid 
the difficulty by founding predestination on God's 
prescience, or foreknowledge of men's actions. 

That part of infinite and interminable duration which 
is past, and which may be called a preceding eternity 3 
is altogether beyond the grasp of the human under- 
Standing. The Scriptures, which are able to make us 
wise to salvation, harmonizing with this property of 
our being, have left all that concerns our destination 
from eternity, under the dark vail, behind which the 
subject itself lies hid. There is nothing declared to 
us that applies at all to God's eternal decree concern- 
ing his creatures. If this be fact, it follows that what 
is affirmed on this head, is not Christian doctrine, but 
metaphysical speculation. 

If absolute and unconditional election and reproba 
tion be laid down as scriptural, all the other peculi- 
arities of Calvinism must follow, of course, in order to 



ELECTON AND REPROBATION. 115 

render the system consistent and complete. Mr. Pel- 
ton supposes the Calvinian doctrine necessary, with a 
view to the aid which it was thought to afford in the 
argument against the errors of the Pelagians. It was 
however perceived, that the doctrine would seem to 
militate against an opinion universally entertained ; 
that for God to condemn an innocent creature to hell, 
would be inconsistent with all our conceptions of his 
attributes. Hence arose a necessity for bringing in 
God as decreeing the sin as well as the punishment, 
Now to bring in the great and wise, the just and good 
God as employing guilt, to accomplish his sovereign will 
and purpose, does not mend the matter. To decree 
both the sin and the punishment of reprobates, seems 
rather to double the evil. 

From the same source flowed the doctrine of abso- 
lute election, or a grace irresistibly saving, which was 
the exertion of omnipotence in the only way in which 
the decree could have been carried into effect. The 
doctrines of election and reprobation were introduced 
into the church in the beginning of the fifth century, 
and were afterward much cultivated in curious reason- 
ings and distinctions ; especially by the schoolmen and 
monks : still in connexion with an opinion very ill 
suited to the system ; that of the possibility of falling 
from grace. It was reserved for Calvinism to dis- 
cover the inconsistency, by establishing the final per- 
severance of the saints, to exhibit a connected chain 
of doctrine. One new opinion will naturally give 
birth to another, and this to a third, and so on, until a 
theory shall become complete. 

The election of grace of which the apostle Paul 
speaks so highly, is altogether diiferent from an abso- 
lute election to eternal life. The apostle means a gra- 
tuitous election to the covenant of Christianity. For 
as by a partial election of distinguishing favour, the 
Jews were once chosen to be God's peculiar people, 
while the Gentiles were left under the dispensation of 
Noah ; so when the Jews provoked God to reject them 
from being any longer his peculiar people, he elected 
the Gentiles, to whom he sent the gospel of Christ, 



1 16 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

with all its divine overtures. But far from electing 
those Gentiles unconditionally to eternal salvation, the 
great Elector charges them to give all diligence to make 
their calling and election sure, lest they also should 
be cut off, as the Jews were, for not doing so. In 
short, the election of grace mentioned in Scripture, is a 
gratuitous election, which implies no final perseverance 
in the truly upright, nor a merciless reprobation of 
the rest of mankind. 

It is an infirmity of the human mind to allow itself 
to be driven by zeal against some particular error into 
whatever is the farthest removed from it ; but which 
may be error also. And when this happens, the latter 
will beget its like, until there shall be a family of 
errors, with the same features and complexion. Hence, 
a theory arising, not in revelation, but in metaphysics, 
has become less dependent on revelation than before. 
I would be understood to allude here to the recently 
invented, or rather revived, doctrine of philosophical 
necessity. 

Mr. P. (page 44 of his book) rages most furiously 
against the Armenians, [Arminians] Methodists, Pela- 
gians, and Roman Catholics. His method of introdu- 
cing the subject is not the most candid. He tells us 
that when Mr. Wesley first broached the doctrine of 
free-will in his " Discipline," he says, " O! then you 
are an Armenian, a free-wilier ; you hold free-will to 
be in man." Mr. P. adds, by way of review and criti- 
cism, " He does not deny the charge to be true, but 
by the manner in which he (Mr. Wesley) attempts to 
plead pity when he introduces it, almost any man can 
perceive that he knew free-will was a distinguishing 
doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, and that it 
was odious among Protestants." 

Mr. Pelton, in this charge, betrays to what little ex- 
tent his knowledge of Church History reached. He 
does not seem aware that Austin, or Augustine, Bishop 
of Hippo in Africa, in the fifth century, was a divine 
of the Romish Church, and that Calvin, in his Insti- 
tutes, borrowed his predestination, and many other 
tenets, from him and from the Fatalists, He likewise 



ELECTION ARD REPROBATION*. 117 

forgets, that the same Augustine was the oracle of the 
Dominicans, Thomists, Jansenists, and of all Roman 
Catholic predestinarians. So easy is it for a man who 
is in a hurry to go beyond his line, and to count with- 
out his host. 

That some persons may be peculiarly favoured of 
God, there can be no doubt. He can .dispense his fa- 
vours as his wisdom sees best. He can give one talent, 
or two, or five, as he pleases. He can make one man 
to be as the cedar of Lebanon, and another as the hys- 
sop, which ^.pringeth out of the wall. One soil or 
seed may produce thirty fold, another sixty, and ano- 
ther a hundred. One star may differ considerably 
from another in magnitude and glory. In the Christian 
Church it has pleased God to institute some apostles, 
some prophets, some teachers, some believers. To 
one person was given, by the extraordinary energy of 
the Holy Ghost, to speak in an unknown tongue, to 
another it was given to prophesy. One had a psalm ; 
another had a doctrine ; another had a tongue ; another 
had a revelation. In a great house also there are ves- 
sels of different materials and uses : some vessels are 
of gold, some of silver, some of iron, some of stone 3 
some of wood, and some of potters' clay. 

That there are no vessels of wrath fitted to destruc- 
tion in the original intention of God, seems perfectly 
plain to every candid examiner. Even Calvin himself, 
in his Institutes, book 2, chap. 3, sect. 10, acknow- 
ledges, " We grant, (says he) that the primitive con- 
dition of man was such, that during his state of inte- 
grity it was in his power to incline to one side or the 
other." He here means, that it was in the power of 
man, while innocent, to choose good or evil. Again 5 
he tells us, book l,chap. 15, sect. 8, "Man, in this in- 
tegrity, was endued with free-will, by which, if he 
had chosen, he might have obtained eternal life"' — and 
again, " All the powers of his soul were formed to rec- 
titude ; and there subsisted a soundness of mind, and a 
will free to the choice of good." Calvin's idea of the 
liberty of Adam, as opposed, not to force, but to ne- 
cessity j is clearly unfolded in the eighth section of the 



1 1 8 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

sixteenth chapter of his first book. The very circum- 
stance of the change which has taken place among the 
Calvinists, in regard to the word free-will, shows the 
accommodation of their ideas concerning man's state 
in his apostacy to the necessarian scheme, which swal- 
lows down absolute election and reprobation as a grate- 
ful morsel. 

The Epistle to the Romans, not being seen, in its 
true character, is made a great handle in the point of 
unconditional election. But it ought to be remember- 
ed, that this epistle is not didactive or preceptive, but 
argumentative. Under this remark, however, are in- 
cluded the first eleven chapters only. The twelfth 
and thirteenth chapters are a beautiful delineation of 
Christian morals. The fourteenth is admonition, not 
without a degree of censure. The fifteenth chapter 
is partly personal, and partly contains miscellaneous 
remarks on the subjects which had gone before. The 
sixteenth is devoted to Christian and friendly salutation. 
The subject and design of the Epistle to the Romans is 
much the same with that to the Galatians, with this 
difference however, that in the Epistle to the Romans, 
the apostle advocated the liberty of the Gentile Chris- 
tians ; whereas, in the Epistle to the Galatians, he cen- 
sured the converts from Gentilssm to Christianity, for 
allowing themselves to be seduced afterward by the 
Jewish converts from that liberty into legal bondage. 

There is in the Epistle to the Romans, one great and 
leading design, carried on without reference to other 
matters, any farther than as they contributed to it, 
namely, the determination of a known difficulty of the 
day ; in regard to the terms on which Christian con* 
verts were to be admitted to Christian communion. 
They who from Judaism had embraced the Gospel, 
contended stiffly, that it was absolutely incumbent on 
the others to conform to the institutions of the law of 
Moses; to which they challenged perpetuity. As this 
Epistle is in a controversial form ; why should it not be 
thought confined to the only controversy which showed 
its head in the course of the apostle's argument. Thus, 
when the apostle declares, " I am not ashamed of the 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 119 

gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salva- 
tion," instead of confining it to any party, he adds, 
" To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile." It must 
he remarked also that the subject of the argument, as 
affecting Jews and Gentiles, is intended of them in 
their collective, and not in their individual capacities. 
For although a community be composed of individuals, 
yet it is evident, that a matter may be predicated of the 
community in general which will not apply to every 
individual in particular. 

Abraham was highly favoured of God : yet his pe- 
culiar privileges did not exclude Melchizedek from 
being a good man, and even a priest of the Most High 
God. He is supposed to have preserved in his family, 
and among his subjects, the knowledge and worship of 
the true God, and the primitive and patriarchal institu- 
tions. In his person, he was even a representative 
and type of Christ, His name, which signifies king of 
righteousness, was one of the characters of our Lord, 
who is essentially righteous. Melchizedek represent- 
ed Christ in his sacerdotal character also. He was 
king of Salem, or peace ; so Christ is called Prince of 
Peace ; because by his incarnation, sacrifice, and me- 
diation, he procures and establishes peace between 
God and man. He blessed Abraham, it being part of 
the priest's office to bless in the name of the Lord. 
Abraham gave him tithes, as a tribute to the Most 
High God, who possesses heaven and earth, dispensing 
all spiritual and temporal favours, and demanding the 
gratitude, submission, and loving obedience of all his 
subjects, of every nation, and people, and tongue. 

When the apostle asserts the admission of the Gen- 
tiles within the pale of the Gospel, on equal terms with 
the Jews, these are supposed to reply, or object — 
" What advantage then hath the Jew?" The apostle, 
instead of saying they had all the advantages, and the 
Gentiles none, replies, " IVtuch every way ; chiefly 
because to them were committed the oracles of God." 
He adds to this in another place, saying — " Who are 
Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the 
glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law. 



!20 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

and the service of God, and the promises ; whose are 
the fathers, and from whom as concerning the flesh 
Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever, 
Amen." But, notwithstanding those peculiarities, the 
apostle, by no means supposed the legal covenant to 
be the only dispensation of providence admitting of 
salvation. 

Instead of supposing those high privileges of election 
and the oracles of God, and the line of the great Mes- 
siah as rendering the Jews utterly void of fear or re- 
sponsibility, the apostle tells them that they shall give an 
account for the improvement of the light afforded them, 
as well as others. Accordingly, having denounced the 
threatening of " indignation and wrath, tribulation and 
anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of 
the Jew first, and also of the Gentile," he adds, "But 
glory, honour, and peace upon every man that worketh 
good, to the Jev/ first, and also to the Gentile." Instead 
of saying that God will be partial in his judgment, the 
apostle assures us of the great impartiality to be exer- 
cised, when " God will render to every man according 
to his deeds, for there is no respect of persons with 
God." The apostle Peter says, that ' 4 God is no re- 
specter of persons, for in every nation he that feareth 
him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." 
God will deal righteously with every man according to 
his circumstances and dispensation. \' For as many as 
have sinned without law, shall also perish without law ; 
and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged 
by the law." There is no reason why there should be 
different rules of judgment in different cases, unless on 
a principle which shall establish different standards of 
duties, respectively required. Where God has given 
to the heathen one talent, to the Jew two, and to the 
Christian five, his demands for improvement will be in 
proportion. Hence, " when the Gentiles who have not 
the law, do by nature, (not as distinguished from grace, 
hut as without revelation,) the things contained in the 
law, these having not the law, (the Mosaic law,) are a 
law unto themselves, their conscience also bearing wit- 
ness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 121 

excusing one another." The plain meaning of the 
apostle is, that though the Gentiles had not an outward 
law as the Jews, yet they had another law, which was 
equally the law of God, though inward ; their con- 
sciences also bearing witness on a comparison of their 
actions with that inward law. 

Lot, the nephew of Abraham, found favour with God, 
though not in the covenant made with Abraham, or 
considered by the Jews as one of the elect. He is said 
to have sat in the gate of Sodom, in order to prevent 
unwary travellers from being entrapped by his wicked 
townsmen, and to bring strangers to his friendly house. 
He showed the good principle within, in not only in- 
viting the strangers, but ki he pressed them greatly, 5 ' 
and prevailed with them. He proceeded still farther, 
" making them a feast, and baking unleavened bread for 
them." His righteous soul is said to be " vexed with 
the filthy conversation of the wicked." He was allow- 
ed to send for the persons who had betrothed his 
daughters, and to offer them opportunity to escape. 
His family was allowed to escape. He also obtained 
the exemption of Zoar, though one of the condemned 
cities. 

It might possibly occur to the advocate for absolute 
election, that on the supposition of all persons being 
eligible to a share of the divine favour, the promises of 
God, made to the stock of Israel, had now failed. The 
apostle meets this, by assuring the persons objecting, 
that the promise is to have a more liberal construction, 
than to be confined to descent by natural generation. 
For, if (as he goes on to show,) it be clear, concerning 
certain branches, deriving their pedigree from the 
.stock to which the promise had been made, that they 
were cut off from all interest in it, at a very early pe- 
riod, it may the easier be believed, that, agreeably to 
some intimation given in the promise itself, and to more 
express* prophecies kept in reserve by the apostle, to 
be produced in their proper places, that even persons 
aot claiming by descent, may attain to an interest in the 
promise. 

Abimetech, king of Gerar, though not of the family or 
11 



122 ELECTION AND REPROBATION 

line of Abraham, had no small degree of knowledge of 
the true God. Indeed, his people are termed " a 
righteous nation." When Abimelech declares to his 
Maker, " I did this in the integrity of my heart," God 
replies, " I know that thou didst this in the integrity of 
thine heart, for 1 also withheld thee from sinning against 
me," 

It is worth the while of every serious reader, to make 
a pause, and ask whether, in the Epistle to the Romans^ 
consistently with the connexion, there can be any thing 
to follow in regard to Ishmael or Esau, that can have 
respect to them personally, rather than to their descen- 
dants ; or, as to what is to happen in a future life ? It 
is stated, that there had been given to Abraham the 
word of promise. " At this time 1 will come, and Sa- 
rah shall have a son," This same promised son is de- 
clared, by the apostle, to have been preferred to Ish- 
mael. Now let it be remembered, that the apostle is 
framing his argument to the apprehensions of persons 
acquainted with the Old Testament. Is it clear tr> 
every reader of the books of Moses, that Ishmael has 
been cursed to all eternity ? Let the narrative be exa- 
mined. Abraham pleads with God — " O that Ishmae) 
might live beforejthee :" God answers, that " it should 
be as Abraham desired, and that he should he the father 
of twelve princes, and become a great nation." Lit tie 
did Abraham imagine, when he received this promise, 
that it contained the sentence of eternal condemnation 
against Ishmael. 

Eliezer of Damascus, the eldest servant of Abraham... 
and the steward of his house, who ruled over all that 
he had, seems to have a high degree of the fear of God_, 
though not of Abraham's family or line, and therefore 
not of the nominally elect. He expresses a high re* 
verence for God in the oath which he took when sent 
to Mesopotamia to get a wife for Isaac. In the form of 
the oath, he acknowledged Jehovah, the God of heaven 
and earth, comprehending his self-existence and eter- 
nity ; his dominion of glory and blessedness ; and his 
providence and bounty. When he came to the en- 
trance of the city of Nahor, and stood by the well, his 



ELECTION AND REPROBATIOX. 123 

secret prayer to God appears no less devout that* 
rational. He even prescribes the way in which the di- 
vine choice and approbation shall be made known, and 
God honours the purity of his motives, by giving him 
precisely the answer he wished. When Rebecca dis- 
closed to him at the well, that she was a member of the 
family he went in quest of, " He bowed down his head, 
and worshipped the Lord" in gratitude for the success 
with which he had been favoured. He added also, 
46 Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who 
hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his 
truth : 1 being in the way, the Lord led me to tJie house 
of my master's brethren." When after his journey meat 
was set before him to eat, he said, / will not eat until I 
have told my errand, plainly indicating that he had his 
master's interest more at heart than his own. 

If we go to the case of Jacob and Esau, concerning 
whom, " being not yet born, neither having done any 
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to elec- 
tion might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, 
it was said, the elder shall serve the younger." And 
again, " Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 5. 
The elder's serving the younger, had reference only 
to the present life. And that the hatred extended no 
farther, is equally evident from the interpretation of 
the prophet Malachi, where he introduces the Most 
High as speaking thus — " I loved Jacob, and I hated 
Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste. v 
And to show farther, how foreign this is from the use 
made of it by some, it must appear to refer to the for- 
tunes, not of their persons, but of their posterities. 
For when did Esau the elder brother, serve Jacob the 
younger? Every thing recorded of the brothers has a 
contrary appearance ; especially their interview des- 
cribed in the 33d chapter of Genesis, and the account 
given in the 36th chapter of the splendour of Esau's 
progeny, just before the incidents in the family of Jacob, 
which ended in his retreat to Egypt, where he lived and 
died dependent. National, and not individual character. 
is the subject of discussion ; and the temporal, and not 
tim everlasting states of those families. As to the term 



124 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

n to hate," it must be understood often in a lax and not 
in a rigid sense. No man is bound to hate his father, 
or mother, or wife, or children, or his own life, in the 
strict sense of the expression ; but only to love them 
less than God. So also it might please God to favour 
the posterity of Jacob more than that of Esau, without 
hating or reprobating the latter to eternal ruin. 

When the father-in-law of Moses visited him in the 
wilderness, " he rejoiced for all the goodness which 
the Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out 
of the hand of the Egyptians." " And Jethro said. 
Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of 
the hand of Pharaoh — Now I know that the Lord is 
greater than all gods : for in the thing wherein they 
dealt proudly he was above them. And Jethro, Mo- 
ses's father-in-law, took a burnt-offering and sacrifices 
for God : and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel* 
to eat bread with Moses's father-in-law, before God. 
Every part of Jethro's conduct proves him to have 
been truly religious. His thanksgiving to Jehovah is 
a striking proof of it. The Kenites, from whom the 
Rechabites came, were descended from him, and were 
worshippers of the true God. He seems to have been 
a man of great understanding, and prudence also. His 
advice to Moses, when exhausted with continual atten- 
tion to the decision of cases between man and man. 
was probably given by immediate inspiration. Here is 
another instance of election, without being of the fa- 
mily or line of Abraham, and of its being transmitted to 
children also of many generations . 

But it will be asked, What can you say to the case of 
Pharaoh, concerning whom it is said by the Sovereign 
of the whole earth — " Even for this same purpose have 
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee ?" 
The Calvinistic scheme asks if the phrase " raised thee 
up," be not equivalent to " brought thee into being ?" 
To which the answer is, by no means. God gave this 
impious king to know that it was in consequence of his 
especial providence, that he had " preserved him and 
his people from being destroyed by means of the past 
plagues :" but God had raised him up, or made him to 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION, 125 

stand, or preserved him, that he might have a farther 
opportunity of manifesting that he was the only true 
God ; for the full conviction both of the Hebrews and 
Egyptians ; that the former might follow, and the latter 
fear before him. Neither the Hebrew, " I have caused 
thee to stand," nor the apostle's translation, " I have 
raised thee," nor the Septuagint, " On this account art 
thou preserved," viz. from the past plagues, can coun- 
tenance that most exceptionable meaning put upon the 
words by certain commentators, viz. " That God from 
all eternity ordained or appointed Pharaoh, by certain 
infallible means, to this end ; that he made him exist in 
time ; that he raised him to the throne ; preserved him 
from being cut off as yet by the other judgments : 
strengthened and hardened his heart ; irritated, pro- 
voked, and stirred him up against the people of Israel ; 
and suffered him to go the lengths he did go in obsti- 
nacy and rebellion ; all which was done to show in him 
his power, in destroying him in the Red Sea, and parti- 
cularly to involve him in everlasting destruction in 
hell." The plain meaning of the declaration is — ■" I 
might have cut thee off with thy subjects in my judg- 
ments already inflicted before thine eyes, but I have 
sustained thee and made thee stable in thy kingdom, for 
I have a heavier judgment yet to come." Now that by 
the temporal destruction of Pharaoh and his host at the 
Red Sea, the name of God was glorified in the Israel- 
itish nation, is evident in sacred history. And that it 
was glorified in the surrounding nations, may easily be 
believed. But that the name of God had been glorified 
by the eternal damnation of this prince, does not ap- 
pear ; and especially, it cannot be imagined that there 
is the least allusion to it in the beautiful strains of poetrv 
in which Miriam and her attendants gave glory to God 
for the temporal destruction of their proud oppressor, 
Besides, who knows but while the waters were return- 
ing to their place in the gradual manner in which the 
narrative implies, this wicked prince, hitherto untouch- 
ed by calamities which did not affect his person, and 
beholding his unhappy and inevitable end near, did not 
lift up his once stubborn heart, now subdued and soft- 

11* 



128 ELECTION AND REPROBATION 

tened, in accepted penitence to the Lord of life and 
death ? Be this as improbable as it may, it must be con- 
fessed possible. 

But may it not be replied, that the apostle, in reason- 
ing on this subject, infers, " Whom he will he harden - 
eth ;" intimating that God is the author of this harden- 
ing ? To this I reply ^ that the apostle's conclusion re- 
quires something altogether on the opposite side, and 
not at all unfavourable to the gracious, scheme, namely 
— " Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have 
mercy. 5 ' Besides, hardening here, being in agreement 
with other places of Scripture, in which there is as- 
cribed to God that which has its origin in the wicked- 
ness of men, and which he permits, with a view of 
overruling it to a subserviency of his designs. And 
that no more is here meant, we find confirmed by the 
circumstance, that God's hardening the heart of Pha- 
raoh does not prevent its being said, that " he harden- 
ed his own heart." 

Granting this, yet does not the apostle say that God 
has as much power over individuals of the " human 
race, as the potter has over the clay, to make one ves- 
sel to honour, and another to dishonour?" To this I 
answer, that, with evident propriety the apostle could 
so reply to those who challenged to the Jews the only 
and exclusive right of being God's peculiar people. No 
one can justly reply to God, or question the prerogatives 
of his government, for having made one people or another 
what they are as a people. They have no more right to 
do this, than the clay "as to question the power of the 
potter. Besides, to make this plainer, let it be remem- 
bered that this similitude is taken from Jerem. xviii. 6, 
by which we ought of course to be determined, in the 
interpretation of it. It is there expressly applied to the 
speaking " concerning a nation, and concerning a king- 
dom, to pluck up and to destroy," as well as " concern- 
ing a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to 
plant it." Will it be said that Jeremiah had within hie 
contemplations, any thing beyond the present life ? 
lie surely had not. And if so, there cannot be any 
reason to imagine that the apostle strained the allusion 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION, 127 

to a subject so different as his is supposed to have been 
from that of the prophet. The apostle advances to the 
application of his preceding reasoning. " But if God, 
(forbearance is no relinquishment of purpose,) willing 
to show his wrath, and to make his power known, en- 
dured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath 
fitted to destruction ; and that he might make known 
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which 
he had afore prepared unto glory." Here, by vessels 
of wrath fitted to destruction, we must understand the 
unbelieving Jews collectively considered, who were to 
be no more a peculiar people ; but to remain under di- 
vine displeasure for an appointed time : and by " ves- 
sels of mercy prepared for glory," we are to under- 
stand not only believing Jews and Gentiles, as defined 
by the apostle himself; but such in their collective ca- 
pacities, in a state of covenant with God. For, as the 
breaking of the vessel, in Jeremiah, signified the out- 
pouring of national judgments ; so the putting of glor} r 
on the other vessels must signify opposition to this. If 
there could be any doubt of this sense, it might be 
cleared up by what the apostle immediately proceeds 
to quote of two prophecies from Hosea, and of tw.o 
others from Isaiah ; all of them applicable to the Gen- 
tiles as one people, and to the Jews as another ; and 
not to be applied even under a plausible appearance, 
to any persons as individually interested, or as respect- 
ing their condition in another life. For after applying 
the metaphor of " vessels of mercy/' by declaring them 
to be " even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews 
only, but also of the Gentiles," he goes on to recite the 
prediction of this by Hosea — " I will call them my peo- 
ple, which were not my people ; and her beloved, who 
was not beloved." He goes on, " And it shall come to 
pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye 
are not my people, there shall they be called the chil- 
dren of the living God." So much for the vessels of 
mercy. With respect to the " vessels of wrath," he 
shows that a people was designated, and quotes Isaiah, 
predicting the rejection of the Jews as a people. — 
" Though the number of the children of Israel be as 



128 ELECTION AND REPROBATION 

the sands of the sea, a remnant (only) shall be saved. 5 ' 
And also—" Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a 
seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto 
Gomorrha." The apostle winds up his argument thus 
— " the Gentiles (he still speaks collectively,) have at- 
tained unto righteousness ;" that is, they have been 
brought into a state of acceptance with God, in which 
they are owned by nim as a people ; and this, through 
the medium of faith in Christ. The other part of the 
conclusion is, that 4< Israel" (considered also as a peo- 
ple, and not as individuals,) which followed after the 
law of righteousness, had not attained to the law of 
righteousness," being kept back from it by their attach- 
ment to the abrogated ceremonies of their law ; the 
object of which had ceased, not as destroyed, but as 
fulfilled by the more extensive dispensation of the 
Gospel. 

Let it be also remembered, that if there be a " cast- 
ing away and a breaking off," they are nevertheless 
connected with a grafting in again. Now, as these ex- 
pressions have a retrospective view to the former " ves- 
sels of wrath," they must be quite unfriendly to the 
doctrine of absolute and final election or reprobation. 
There is also a still greater difficulty, which the un- 
changeable scheme cannot remove. For when the 
apostle had compared real Christians from among the 
Gentiles, to branches of an olive-tree, wild by nature, 
now "graffed, contrary to nature, into a good olive- 
tree, " and partaking of its fatness, it seems irreconcile- 
able with the doctrine of final perseverance, to imply- 
that such persons may be cut off, and on that account, 
to admonish them, as God spared not the natural 
branches, to " take heed lest he spare not thee." But 
to add to the inconsistency, on the supposition of indi- 
vidual interpretation, there is the assurance that at last 
"all Israel shall be saved," no exception being made of 
those who before were called u vessels of wrath, fitted 
to destruction." The difficulty seems stretched to the 
utmost, when we find, as the finishing stroke of the 
whole argument, that "God hath concluded all in un- 
belief, that he might have mercy upon all." 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 129 

The apostle, knowing that the whole ground over 
which he had gone, did not contrive the least degree 
of moral or everlasting evil against an individual* 
breaks out in effusions of admiration of the infinite ex- 
cellence of the Divine Being, which had been dis- 
played ; and closes with ascribing due praise and glory 
to his great name. O the depth of the riches, both of 
the wisdom and the knowledge of God ! How unsearch- 
able are his judgments, and his ways past finding out I 
For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? Or who 
hath been his counsellor ? Or who hath first given to 
him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again ? For 
of him, and through him, and to him are all things : 
To whom be glory for ever, Amen. Had the apostle's 
reasoning consisted of such a series of subjects as the 
absolute plan supposes, a writer disclosing them to the 
world, under the influence of inspiration, might fitly 
bow in submission, under a fearful sense of the sove- 
reignty of the Great Ruler, illustrating his glory in the 
damnation of millions of intelligent creatures, contrived 
for them before their existence, and without any unde- 
servings of their own. But that, in such a writer as 
the apostle, the theme should awaken feelings like 
those expressed by him, is one of the most extraordi- 
nary associations which can be imagined. 

What a pity that, instead of bowing with terror in 
silent submission to something like the sovereignty of 
God, in absolutely saving whom he will, and damning 
whom he will, for his own pleasure, there should be, in 
the life of President Edwards, transporting views of 
the subject. This author states, that he had been for- 
merly full of objections to the doctrine of absolute pre- 
destination ; but that at some particular time, well re- 
membered, he became satisfied of it, although he could 
give no account how, or by what means, he was thus 
convinced. He scarcely ever afterward found a rising 
in his mind against God's sovereignty, in showing mercy 
or hardening whom he would. Then he goes on thus 
— " I have often since, not only had a conviction, but a 
delightful conviction of it. The doctrine of God's 
sovereignty has very often appeared an exceeding 



130 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

pleasant, bright, and sweet doctrine to me." These 
words applying evidently to the salvation and the dam- 
nation spoken of before. 

If we cast our eyes forward to the conclusion to 
which the apostle brings the subject, we must certainly 
infer every thing favourable to the universal grace of 
God. " I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the 
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living 
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your rea- 
sonable service." Had the apostle been laying down 
a scheme of eternal condemnation, from which a very 
few only had been rescued by a predestinating decree, 
there would seem an evident unsuitableness in the in- 
ference, to the premisses from which it was drawn. 
But if we suppose the argument to have been all along 
concerning the breaking down of a barrier to the cove- 
nant, and the laying of it open to all nations, without 
exacting from them a burthensome obligation, it may be 
seen that the leading feature of the dispensation is be- 
neficence ; and that the apostle might fitly apply the 
persuasive motive of the mercies of God, as an in- 
citement to the sublime morality which was to follow, 

On any thing like a survey of the ways of God, it 
must be acknowledged that he does all things well. 
There is a wise proportion and analogy in all his ways. 
There are four sorts of creatures in the present visible 
system, each occupying its own place and station : 
dead matter, as clods and stones : passive agents, as 
plants and trees : irrational agents, as clogs and horses : 
Rational creatures, who are free-agents, as human 
beings. Now is not that part of the system, which is 
composed of men, as free-agents, better than the pas- 
sive, consisting of plants and trees ? Yes : they are 
under a law, and accountable, whereas the passive are 
not. God has dealt with men as rational creatures 
from the beginning. He has employed human beings 
and angels as his messengers to signify his will ; and 
he has come himself on this errand of love. Condi- 
tions, fortified with promises and tjireatenings, were 
addressed to their hopes and fears. Life and death 
have been set before the eye of man, with a powerfu! 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 231 

incitement and suggestion to choose life. His messen- 
gers were commanded to make a fair and sincere offer 
to all. It was repeated, and renewed in every form 
that could win attention. Where men are conscious 
of being sinners, they are commanded to repent, with 
an assurance that God forgives the truly penitent. His 
very threatenings are often lined with a condition. 
" Except ye repent," still leaving the result to their 
own option. These threatenings are intended to do 
them good, as a father apprizes bis child of the fire„ 
or water, or precipice, or knife, or poisonous fruity 
however sweet. His mind is developed, and its se- 
crets unfolded in assuring us that He is not willing that 
any should perish, but that all should live even for 
evermore. Why will ye die ? is an inquiry as sincere 
as it is ardent and affectionate. He upbraids such as 
will not listen to reason : Ah ! foolish people. The 
appeal asks, " what more could I do for my vineyard ?" 
The threatening denounces, that " the soul that sinnetb 
shall die." His impartiality declares, that " every man 
shall give an account for himself." His oath is, " As I 
live, saith the Lord, I have no hand in the death of 
the sinner." His love " gave his Son to die for the 
world." His exclamation is, " O Jerusalem ! Jerusa- 
lem! how often would I have gathered thy children 
together as a hen her chickens under her wings?" 
His charge is, " But ye would not." 

Now, how a person can read these statements, and 
many others that might be adduced, and then say, thai 
%; Christ died only for a certain predestinated number, 
for whom only salvation is absolutely certain, to the 
utter exclusion of the rest of the human race," is 
rather unaccountable. And to mend the matter, they, 
at the same time, state, that if salvation be offered t.o 
the rejected remainder, it is in order to constitute a 
ground on which they may be at last condemned. The 
Scriptures, to which we must appeal for decision, are 
very far from such a sentiment ; but clear and full in 
declaring that the satisfaction of Christ was for all man- 
kind, and for every man in particular, although none 
reap the benefit but those who believe and obey the 



132 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

gospel. Unless Christ died for all, and that all may 
be saved through hiin ; he appears to send out, not a 
true, but a false message. Unless he died for all, then 
it would be a sin to believe the message ; for that 
would be to believe a lie. Unless he died for all men, 
then unbelievers are not condemned for not believing 
the truth, but for not believing a lie. Unless he died 
for all, then God is not in earnest, or sincere, whether 
he employs the command, or threat, or promise, jot 
exhortation, or warning, or exclamation, or even the 
oath. Unless God be in earnest, then unbelief can 
be no sin in those that finally perish. And unless the 
great Redeemer died for the world, how can he judge 
the world in righteousness ? 

Mr. P. does what he can to deny, that the divine de- 
cree of irresistible predestination is chargeable with 
the present sin and future damnation of men. But I 
shall adduce sufficient proof, by plain, positive testimo- 
nies, to which I shall refer, to show that his friends of 
the absolute scheme are so candid as to allow it, and 
contend for it, while they publish it on the house-top. 
The ingenuous translator of Zanchius tells us in his 
translation, page 50, that " Man fell in consequence of 
the divine decree." In his observations, page 7, he 
states, that " whatever comes to pass, happens neces- 
sarily, and whatever man does is unavoidable." In page 
15, he says, u All things turn out according to the di- 
vine predestination, not only the works we do outwardly, 
but even the thoughts we think inwardly." In page 
11, " the will of God is the sole cause why some are 
saved and others perish, he willing the salvation of the 
former, and the perdition of the latter." In page 15, 
" we can only do what God from all eternity willed and 
foreknew we should." Page 7, "no free-will of the 
creature can resist the will of God." Page 19, "the 
purpose or decree of God signifies his everlasting ap- 
pointment of some men to life, and of others to death, 
which appointment flows entirely from his own free and 
sovereign will." Page 57, " if between the elect and 
reprobate there were not fixed a great gulf, so that 
neither can be otherwise than they are, then the will 



ELECTION AttD REPROBATION. 13: 

of God (which is the sole cause why some are chosen 
and others not,) would be rendered of no effect. J: 
Page 56, " The word of God would not be true with 
r respect to the non-elect, (or reprobate,) if it were pos- 
sible for them to be saved." Page 15, "The con- 
demnation of the reprobate is necessary and irresisti- 
ble." Page 25, " God worketh all things in all men 5 
even wickedness in the wicked." And now, gentle 
reader, may I not appeal to your unbiassed mind and 
tender conscience, and ask, if a legion of infernals were 
to sit in close and deep council for a thousand years, 
to contrive an artful way of reproaching the living God, 
could they do it more effectually, than by hiring into 
their service, men who pass the false coin of absolute 
election and absolute reprobation with this deceitful 
and alluring inscription, " Necessary Holiness unto the 
Lord ;" and this detestable motto on the reverse, 44 Ne- 
cessary Wickedness unto the Lord." And has not Mr, 
P. presumed too much on your credulity, to suppose- 
that you would never have wisdom enough to look at 
the black reverse of the shining medal by which he 
wishes to bribe you into fatalism. Thus he is fond of 
employing the sweet term Election as necessary and 
irresistible, while he leaves out reprobation as too un- 
sightly for open observation. 

Predestination, as applied to individuals, and their 
condition in another life, is an error of the absolute 
scheme, on which the scriptures are silent. The neces 
sarian thinks that the sovereignty of God cannot be sup- 
ported otherwise than by the opinion, that for his plea 
sure he foreordained some to everlasting happiness, 
and others to everlasting misery, without reference to 
any good or evil done by them respectively ; and even 
that he called them into existence for the very purpose 
of illustrating his mercy and his justice in these opposite 
evils, as decreed by him. 

To reconcile unconditional reprobation with the at- 
tributes of God, is utterly impossible. To punish an 
unavoidable fault with uninterrupted torture, would be 
unjust in the highest degree. Therefore a just God 
cannot with any face of reason, first absolutely decree 

J2 



134 ELECTION AND HEPROBATIOff. 

o^ur sin, and then our punishment. Though God be 
debtor to no man ; yet he owes to himself to act like 
himself, as a gracious and just Creator towards his crea- 
tures. When God, by his promise, has engaged him- 
self judicially to render to every man according to hrs 
works, would it be just in him to necessitate some men 
to work righteousness, and others to work iniquity, in 
order to reward the former and to punish the lattef, 
according to arbitrary and unavoidable decrees ? 

Mr. P. will say, " God owes eternal salvation Co 
no man ; so if he confer it on his elect, he does no in- 
jury to the reprobates on whom he does not confer it/'' 
But this is only half the argument, the sightly part of 
it, namely, the salvation of the elect. Will this prove 
the justice or equity of reprobating also, and that in an 
absolute and irretrievable manner, as many of his un- 
born creatures as he pleases, decreeing to protract 
tbeir infernal torments to all eternity ; after first having 
decreed their sin, as the necessary medium to obtain 
this necessary end. Now what must we think of a 
system which absolutely and irresistibly reprobates any 
"vman to remediless sin and everlasting misery, before he 
thinks his first bad thought, or even draws his first 
breath ?" 

Instead of entailing necessary and remediless sin and 
ruin upon any of his human creatures, the scriptures 
assure us that God is so far from any connexion with 
this unsightly purpose, that he has graciously placed 
all mankind in a state of initial salvation from sin and 
hell, suffering the first Adam to propagate his fallen 
race, that the benefits of the redemption of the second 
Adam may be so far extended to them, as to save from 
eternal misery, all who die in infancy, and to put all who 
live long enough to act as moral agents, in a capacity 
of avoiding hell and gaining heaven, by affording them 
that grace which brings salvation, and the means and tfp. 
portunities of making their calling and election sure. 

Eternity past is utterly beyond the grasp of the hu- 
man understanding. The Scriptures harmonizing with 
this property of our being, have left all that concerns 
oaiy destination from eternicy, under the dark vail, be = 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 135 

mnd which the subject itself lies hid. The Scriptures 
are far from giving us to understand, as Mr. P. does, 
{as openly as he dares,) that God worketh all things in all 
men, even " wickedness in the wicked," in consequence 
of an everlasting decree, assuring us that it is impossi- 
ble to show the difference between permission and de- 
sign in a Being possessed of unlimited power, and infi- 
nite wisdom. Those holy records and dictates declare 
that God is opposed to the sin and punishment of man, 
and that he has neither pleasure nor profit in the death 
of the wicked, which their consciences must charge 
upon themselves, and that this charge will constitute a 
material part of their future punishment, as the worm 
which never dies. What an awful charge must the 
necessarian bring against the economy of God, to de- 
clare, that, where he does not absolutely restrain from 
evil, or force to good ; or where he leaves the indivi- 
dual to a free choice, and does not forcibly hinder the 
commission of sin, he must design and decree it? This 
is no less than an Antinomian blow at the root of the 
Divine sanctity. Now the Scriptures of truth assure us. 
that so far was God from countenancing sin, that when 
he placed the first man in Paradise he strictly forbade 
him to sin. Is it right, then, in Mr. P. to call God 
the permitter, or countenancer of sin, when the Scrip- 
tures represent him as forbidding it, under the threat- 
ening of an awful result? Is it not very pernicious to 
pour shame upon the holiness of God, as well as absur- 
dity upon the reason of man, by attempting to make the 
world believe that forbidding and threatening are one 
and the same act, with permitting and promising ? Who 
does not see the infinite difference between not abso- 
lutely hindering a free creature from an act of choice, 
and contriving, devising, and attaching this act to him. 
so as to become inevitable, and consequently impossible 
to be avoided ? Now to publish to the world that God 
can contrive and impose evil, and then punish what is 
unavoidable, must be a very great misrepresentation of 
the high and holy One of Israel. 

If the doctrine of absolute and unconditional election 
and reprobation, be once laid down as scriptural, all the 
other peculiarities of the inevitable scheme must fol 



136 ELECTION AND REFROBATiOrw 

low from it of course, and come forward in order t& 
render the scheme consistent and complete. For 
God to condemn an innocent creature (an infant for in- 
stance,) to everlasting torments, was inconsistent with 
our ideas of the attributes of God. Hence arose the 
necessity of imputing Adam's sin even to the unborn, 
and as the medium by which the final result could be 
effected in those of riper years. From the same source 
flowed the doctrine of a grace irresistibly saving to 
some, and not attainable by others. These doctrines 
were not introduced into the church at the same time^ 
Those of predestination and irresistible grace appeared 1 
in the beginning of the fifth century, and were after- 
ward much cultivated in curious reasonings and dis- 
tinctions ; especially by the Schoolmen and the Monks ; 
still in connexion with an opinion very ill-suited to the 
system ; namely, the possibility of falling from grace 
given. It was reserved for Calvinism to discover the 
inconsistency, and by establishing the final perseverance 
of the saints, to exhibit a connected chain of doctrine, 
But although the introducing of this comparatively mo- 
dern doctrine be here ascribed to Calvinism ; yet it 
does not appear to have been taught by the reformer 
himself. 

But what shall we think of Mr. P. undertaking 
to prove a most glaring contradiction, namely, that ab- 
solute necessity and free agency can subsist at one and 
the same moment of time, and be unequivocally appli- 
;*,able to their subjects. The omnipotence of God is 
brought in to cut this hard knot, which can put man 
under an unavoidable decree, and then justly blame 
him for acting as he is necessitated to do. On the 
ground of God being omnipotent, Mr. P. thinks he 
can reconcile the contradiction of God necessitating 
free-agents to keep the law already rendered impossi- 
ble by a previous decree. But Scripture, reason, com- 
mon sense, and matter of fact, deny this, and aver the 
contrary. For although God be possessed of infi- 
nite power, it must be recollected that he is also 
possessed of infinite wisdom, and that it would 
be as absurd to create free agents in order to ne- 
cessitate them, as to do a thing in order to undo 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 13? 

it Besides this, God's distributive justice could 
never be displayed, nor could free and willing obe- 
dience be paid by rationals, and crowned by the 
rewarder and judge of all the earth, unless those 
rationals had a free choice. 

Another theory, not to be found in revelation, hut 
in metaphysics, has carried this matter to a still greater 
extent, and made things quite independent of revela- 
tion, namely, the doctrine of philosophical necessity. 
Calvinism has heightened her metaphysical complexion. 
by having recourse to this for assistance. She has re- 
clined on this prop, in failure of support, formerly sup- 
posed to be sufficiently abounding in the Scriptures, 
though the doctrine itself originated with, and in its 
progress has been improved principally, by men who 
were either indiiferent or unfriendly to revelation. 
Nay, in some particulars of no small importance, it is 
contradictory to the doctrines of Calvinism, as held in 
the beginning. In regard to the origin of the doctrine, 
current opinion mentions Thomas Hobbes as having 
given the first hints of it, a name not very favourable to 
piety or morals. Some time afterward the doctrine 
found an advocate in Anthony Collins, a known unbe- 
liever. Philosophical necessit}', as brought forward 
now, undertakes to teach, that man, even in his inno- 
cency, was under a propellent motive, which produced 
his fall necessarily, by means of the dependence of 
every effect upon its proper cause. Calvin thought 
otherwise; for in his Institutes, book II. chap. Hi, 
sect. 10, he says — " We grant that man in his pri- 
mitive integrity had the power to incline to one side or 
the other." In book I. chap. xv. sect. 8, he tells us, 
" In his integrity man was endued with free-will, by 
which, if he had chosen, he might have attained eter- 
nal life." And again — " All the powers of his soul 
were formed to rectitude, and there subsisted a sound- 
ness of mind, and a will free to good." This power is 
acknowledged to have belonged to man in a state of in* 
tegrity. In regard to the renewal of human nature, 
and in proportion as that is accomplished, the regaining 
of the freedom which has been lost bv the apostacv, is 

12* 



138 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

held out. 53 Also, in book II. chap. ii. sect 1, Calvir/ 
tells us, that though man be at present a fallen crea- 
ture as an offspring of Adam, " yet he should neverthe- 
less be instructed to aspire to the good of which he is 
destitute, and to the liberty of which he is deprived." 
Not so the iron chain of philosophical necessity, which 
binds every motion of the will, in the track of a 'conti- 
nued series of causes and effects, all which had their 
origin in the absolute will of God. When the compa- 
rative merits of Calvinism and Arminianism were put to 
issue in the synod of Dort, not having then formed the 
alliance with absolute necessity, the synod states in its 
14th article, " We believe that God created man out 
of the dust of the earth ; and made and formed him 
after his own image and likeness ; good, righteous, and 
holy ; capable in all things to will agreeably to the 
will of God." It is stated also in the 12th canon, after the 
change wrought on a sinner by grace — " The will thus 
renewed, is not only actuated and influenced by God, 
but in consequence of this influence, becomes itself 
active." How different from necessarian Calvinism at 
present! 

When God rejected Cain's sacrifice, he assigned a 
reason for it, from the plain state of the case, namely, 
•* that he did not do well." This is an appeal to his 
mind and conscience. But if God had previously and 
irresistibly determined Cain to do all the evil he did, at 
the same time that he effectually hindered him from 
doing better, is it reasonable that he should lay all the 
blame upon him, and make a most positive declaration 
that it was his own fault he was not accepted ? So far 
was this from being the case, that an open door of hope 
rs set before him, which no one but himself could shut, 
God told him in very plain terms, that there was a pos- 
sibility of gaining his favour, which he condescends to 
disclose, assuring him that the condition was within his 
reach, namely, that " of doing well." 

Nothing can be more absurd than to couple (as Mr, 
P. does) absolute necessity with moral free-agency. 
If men have no capacity of disobeying, they can have- 
no capacity of obeying, in the moral sense Of the word, 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 139 

Their obedience would be necessary, and as far from 
true and genuine morality, as the passive obedience of 
a leaden ball is, which a person drops with an absurd 
command which orders it " to fall," having let go his 
hold of it. If men be unchangeably fixed in virtue 
or in vice, then all liberty is at an end, and man de- 
serves no more praise or blame for the good or evil 
which be does, than a bullet for falling to the ground, 
which is its centre, and to which place it must fall 
when dropped. 

This philosophical necessity, which makes every 
thing inevitable, should be altogether excluded from 
the sphere of Christian instruction. It ill becomes 
Creatures of a day to presume to speculate with the 
perfections and attributes of the great first cause, the 
infinite, eternal, self-existent God. We are instructed 
on the highest authority, that " secret things belong to 
the Lord our God, but those things that are revealed 
belong unto us and to our children." Yet there is an 
infirmity in the mind of man, which stimulates him to 
transgress the bounds prescribed to his understanding. 
to pry into, and dogmatize on subjects concerning 
which he has no solid ground to stand on, no data to be 
reasoned from with certainty, or authorizingto conclude 
with safety. There are evidences of this busy and 
presumptuous spirit operating within the bounds of 
the Christian Church from the days of the apostles 
even to the present day. The apostle speaks of it as 
" oppositions of science, falsely so called — philosophy 
and vain deceit." Even then, busy wits, by false rea- 
sonings, under the name of philosophy, brought the 
mind at length to rest in opinions not found in the word 
of truth. 

God is inviolably just in all his dealings with men, as 
voluntary agents. Where there is no personal offence, 
as in the case of infants, their early removal will, on 
the gracious plan of redemption in Christ, answer the 
most valuable ends to all eternity. But that God can 
be just in ordaining involuntary agents, first to sin una- 
voidably, and then to be damned, is what Mr. Pelton 
Iras not been able to prove, by one single argument. 



140 ELECTION AND REPROBATION, 

which can bear the light. If an involuntary being, whu 
cannot help doing what he does, be chargeable, why 
are the sword of the murderer, the candle of the in- 
cendiary, and the cup of the poisoner innocent ? They 
are involuntary, and only the instruments of others, 
whose will they could not resist. If a man happen to 
fall involuntarily on a child, whose death is occasioned 
by the circumstance, will the law r condemn him as a wilful 
murderer ? And if an earthly judge will not pronounce 
on an involuntary agent, why will Mr. Pelton assert, that 
God can be just in punishing involuntary agents, fordoing 
that which they could no more avoid than the sword 
could help the murder ? 

When our great High-Priest had offered up his own 
life for the ransom of men, he desired the gospel to he 
preached throughout the whole world. This must be 
a very clear proof that individual and discriminative 
predestination, is but a fabrication of the human ima- 
gination, and not at all accordant with the commission 
which announced a free salvation to all men, indiscrimi- 
nately, without the sting of any distinction between a 
secret and a revealed will, the latter holding out the 
offer of a good which the former keeps back, under 
the strong hold of an irresistible decree. 

But if he should possess no answer to the question, 
or solution to the difficulty, perhaps he may attempt an 
evasion, by a false argument, i.e. " God owes no man 
solvation, either as a state of grace in this life, or of 
glory in heaven, and therefore he is not obliged to pay 
where he does not owe." This is somewhat like the 
prejudice of the people of a celebrated city, who with 
both their eyes widely open, could overlook the nu 
merous and convincing proofs of the existence and 
providence of the Great Supreme, while to an image 
they could cry, " Great is Diana of the Ephesians." 
But strip this declaration of its thin disguise, and if 
must stand in plain language, to be known and read of 
all men, namely, " As God owes no man salvation, he 
therefore owes to every man damnation. As he owe? 
no sum of money, even one talent, he must owe a thou- 
sand stabs, one of which is deep enough to be mortal." 
Is this to the honour of God ? But it may be replied. 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 141 

k God afflicts some men with misery in this short 
life, and therefore, why not afflict as many as he 
pleases in hell for ever ?" To this it may he easily re- 
plied, that though our afflictions here are not joyous, 
hut grievous ; yet even those afflictions are sent with a 
good intention, for they often work out the fruits of 
righteousness : and we who before affliction, are too 
apt to go astray, are often brought back through its me 
dium. Our light afflictions here are but for a compa- 
rative moment; whereas, the worm that never dieth. 
and the fire that is never quenched, are quite different 
things. An affectionate father justly thinks, that while 
he owes a rod to one child, and physic to another, he 
does not at the same time owe to a third child to break his 
bones with a sledge, or to pour melted lead down the 
throat of a fourth. A surgeon, in opening an impos- 
thume in the breast of a person, puts him to pain for 
one hour, as necessarily connected with his probable 
recovery. Does that liberty which is allowed by gene- 
ral custom, authorize him to flea the body, or cut it 
into fragments, or to put it to all sorts of pain unneces- 
sarily, and where no possible good can be deduced ? 

Another unscriptural name, by which election and 
reprobation aro cWlarprl and averred by Mr. P. and 
his system, is the curious distinction which has been 
fabricated between ordinary and efficacious grace ; 
whereas, mankind are encouraged, by the warmest ex- 
hortations of a heavenly Father, to improve even one 
talent, to occupy and enlarge every trust ; to improve 
every good inclination and opportunity, to a purpose 
that will bear to be reflected on with approbation, 
under an assurance that it cannot betray them into a 
fruitless labour, and the pursuit of an unattainable 
good. Where God commands, he does so on the rea- 
sonable ground of ability possessed. How unreasona- 
ble would it be to command a fish to walk ? a bird to 
read ? a beast to hear an edifying sermon ? or a tree to 
sing a melodious sonnet ? With equal propriety may 
one be first reprobated, and then invited by the pro- 
mises of the Gospel. 

Mr. P. makes it a point to keep the cloven foot 



142 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

as retired and concealed as possible. But if he will 
consult Calvin's comment on Romans ix. 19, he will 
find the matter not minced, but asserted roundly. The 
word "to harden," when applied to God, " not only 
means permission, (as some moderate divines would 
have it) but also the action of divine wrath." This is 
as much as to say, " that the unavoidable purpose of 
absolute reprobation is eternal damnation, and that the 
medium conducive to this fearful end is wickedness." 
Now, if securing and accomplishing be terms altogether 
positive, applied to God, in contriving and completing 
the ruin of lost souls, it is rather odd that Mr. Pelton 
should stumble at the very threshold, and attempt to 
aver, that all these terms rise no higher than bare per- 
mission. 

The gospel cautions the best of Christians, and the 
firmest believers, against the danger which still exists, 
of being at last destroyed, either by the remaining in- 
firmities of their nature, or by the temptations of the 
adversary, who still goes up and down seeking whom 
he may devour. Though the promises of God be suf- 
ficient to support the soul in the way of duty and holy 
vigilance, yet it must not be presumed, that any infor- 
mation is given of a resistless power, which will at 

last snatch them from perdition, whatever sinfulness 
they may fall into before the close of life. 

The arguments by which Mr P. would attempt 
to reconcile an inevitable decree of reprobation with 
free offers of divine mercy, are but mere show with* 
out either weight or solidity, and as inconclusive as those 
by which he attempts to reconcile it with divine jus- 
tice ; both sorts of arguments drawing their plausibility 
from the deceitfulness with which the necessarian 
scheme covers the blackness of the terms, " predesti- 
nation, inevitable decree, reprobation, absolute contri* 
vance," &c. such as " passing by, non-elect, not owing 
salvation, limiting the display of goodness, not extend* 
ing mercy," &c. just as if all these phrases conveyed 
One just idea of necessarian reprobation, which is an 
absolute unconditional dooming of myriads of unborn 
creatures, to live in necessary and unavoidable wicketl 



ELECTION AND RErROUATlON. 143 

ness, and then to depart into everlasting fire, God ha° 
ving, by his decree, secured the end, namely, inevita- 
ble damnation, by the means, namely, inevitable sin. 

Those ministers, who believe that the gospel uses 
the language of sincerity, and not of prevarication, 
where it offers the free gift of God, may address to 
their hearers the admonitions, the exhortations, the 
reproofs, the promises, and the threatenings of Scrip- 
ture, free from all discouragement. It must, on the 
contrary, be painful to a benevolent man, to know that 
the offers of grace which he makes, will only increase 
the guilt of those who reject them, without the existence 
of any qualification or ability to be profited by them. 
But to be persuaded that the very end of preaching, in 
regard to some, is to make their damnation sure, would 
seem to swallow up whatever consolation can arise 
from any other source of the ministerial calling. The 
word of truth proceeds on quite a different plan, 
Not an auditor but may become a believer, a servant, 
a child of God, and after glorifying God upon earth, 
sing eternal hosannahs to God and the Lamb in 
heaven. 

The idea of the Gospel offers being secretly intended 
only for a limited number, must grealty discourage the 
preachers of this plan. It must considerably affect the 
hearers also, though under different views of the sub- 
ject ; being naturally fruitful of presumption in some, 
who may believe, that they are of the number of the 
elect ; and of despair in others, who may imagine them- 
selves reprobated. For although these consequences 
may be incorrectly drawn ; yet the misfortune is, that 
ihey are such as present themselves to ordinary under- 
standings. When the promises and threatenings of God 
are announced as a terror to evil doers, and a reward 
to those that do well, the people will hear under the 
impression that in every instance, life and death are 
sincerely set before them, making their perdition, it' 
this should be the sad result, the consequence of their 
own sinful obstinacy, without any influence of a contri- 
ving destiny. 

That the first man was no predestinarian is evident 



144 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

from bis bringing forward no decree to acquit himself ? 
Eve brought up no foreknowledge by way of justifica- 
tion. How glad would the first murderer have been 
of such a subterfuge, when brought to account for the 
horrible sin of fratricide ? Enoch the seventh from 
Adam charged the wicked of his day with their ungodly 
deeds, which they had committed ; Noah was commis- 
sioned to warn also, and he is said to have been a 
preacher of righteousness ; Lot was said to warn his 
friends in Sodom, who might have escaped the ven- 
geance of devouring fire. The Gospel assures us that 
the damnation of the unbelieving and impenitent is of 
themselves, for neglecting their great salvation ; desi- 
ring to be excused from the gospel feast ; making light 
of its offers ; refusing to occupy or improve their ta- 
lents ; acting the part of slothful servants : grieving, re- 
sisting, doing despite to, and quenching the Spirit of 
grace in its divine influence ; shutting the eyes and 
ears, and refusing to have God to reign oyer themr 
But Mr. P. will ask, if there be no secret, irresistible 
decree, why does Ephesians, chap. i. 5, say, that " the 
Father had predestinated them to the adoption of chil- 
dren by Jesus Christ," and Thessalonians, chap. i. 1. 
" that their election was of God, and chap. ii. 13, that 
God had chosen them to salvation from the beginning?'" 
To this I answer, that the apostle in addressing those 
Gentiles who had embraced the faith of Christ, means 
no more than that the Gentiles were called in an eman- 
cipation from the institutions of the law. And nothing 
could so effectually sustain this sentiment, as the rest- 
ing of it on the divine purpose, entertained before the 
giving of the law, and even before the foundation of 
the world. The words "from the beginning, 1 ' are 
applied in Scripture to different purposes. In Luke i. 
2, they are intended of the commencement of the 
Gospel dispensation. In the first chapter of Genesis 
the same words look no farther back than the creation 
of the world. If we apply the words " chosen, " and 
■■' predestinate," to all the members of the churches of 
Ephesus and Thessalonica, we must in that case attri- 
bute to the Apostle a discriminating knowledge of the 



ELECTrON AND REPROBATION. 145 

hearts of men. This would be very unreasonable. 
To apply predestination to their certain attainment of 
eternal life, would but ill accord with " Take to your- 
selves the whole armour of God, that ye may be able 
to stand against the wiles of the devil." 

The term " elect 7 ' which he applies to the members 
of one of those churches, was not inconsistent with 
the language of severe reproof, to some of those elect." 
This is perfectly consistent, if the term be intended of 
the church in general. But if it be applied to each of 
the members in particular, with a view to their desti- 
nation in another world, it is not to be supposed that 
there should be charged on some of these elect, faults 
which are incompatible with the Christian state. 
Thus, Thessalonians. 2 Epistle iii. 11, " We hear that 
there are some which walk among you disorderly, 
working not at all, but are busybodies." The Thes= 
?alonians, collectively, were a church of God, while 
individuals, and their attainments, rested upon other 
grounds. 

. That God forces none is evident, while he uses 
means sufficient to demonstrate to all that he has no 
pleasure in the death of any sinner. If men fail of 
attaining this great end, the charge will be against 
themselves and not against God, who is free from the 
blood of all men. This is the condemnation which 
justly lies on the obstinate and wilful sinner, that light 
is come into the world, and that men love darkness 
rather than light, because their deeds are evil. And 
if they fail of salvation, it is because they reject the 
council of God against thems elves, 

Ephes. i. 4, is considered as peculiarly favourable 
i'o the Cahinistic scheme, and therefore requires no- 
tice. u According as he hath chosen us in him before 
the foundation of the world that we should be holy," 
&c. But, for the construction thus given the cause is 
indebted to the separating of the 4th from the 3d verse, 
which makes a part of the same sentence. It is 
" Blessed be the God i\nd Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings 
in heavenly places in Christ.*' The sense of the place 

13 



1 4G ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

is, there being conferred on the Ephesians spiritual 
blessings, to the end that they should be holy, the 
predestinating of them to be a church gathered from 
among the Heathens, is a circumstance noticed of the 
case. It was natural, that of all the inspired writers, 
the apostle Paul should be most abundant in references 
to antecedent determinations of the sovereign will of 
God, concerning his spiritual kingdom on earth recently 
founded. The mission of this Apostle was especially 
to the Gentiles. All his Epistles to churches are espe- 
cially to those of the Gentile sort, except the epistle to 
the Hebrews, which lias nothing concerning predesti- 
nation or election to the purpose. He found himself 
thwarted in his ministry by a mixture of Judaism and 
Christianity ; which had its foundation in the error 
that there was but one chosen people, in the mass of 
w 7 hom, of course, all the receivers of the new doctrine 
should be merged. That St. Paul is continually taking 
occasion to contradict this error, will not be denied by 
any. He largely refuted it in his epistle to the Romans, 
and in that to the Galatians. Underthese circumstances, 
is his salutation of churches : collectively he addresses 
them as objects of divine choice. But that he should 
have intended it of them in their individual characters, 
assuring them that each of them was marked out for 
eternal salvation by an unchangeable decree; and this 
in Epistles in which admonition, reproof, and even ex- 
pulsion from the body of the church were to bear a 
part, is an inconsistency not to be supposed under the 
gift of inspiration. 

But why are other words of equal force employed, 
namely, " must and necessity?" To this I answer, that 
there are a thousand instances where those terms differ 
ever so much from absolute necessity. Hence the 
expression, " It must needs be that offences come, ,: 
Hence also, " seven days ye must eat unleavened 
bread," Hence, " New wine must be put into new 
bottles," Hence, "He must needs go through Samaria," 
Hence, " I have bought a piece of ground, and I must 
needs go to see it." Now to attempt to prove absolute 
necessity from any of these expressions would be alter 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 147 

gether trifling. There may be a necessity of duty, 
expressed by 6i I must pay my debts," — Of civility by 
4 I must pay such a visit," — Of circumstances — " in 
going through Samaria" to Jerusalem, to avoid a cir- 
cuitous passage — of convenience " when one is tired, 
to leave off in proper time." All these do not amount 
to absolute, insuperable necessity. 

Mr. P. affecting to secure all the honour to God, 
would attribute the increase to him where no Paul 
planted, or Apollos watered, which is contrary to his 
gracious and providential schemes. Must absolute fa- 
talism be brought in to account for the interesting pic- 
ture of a true penitent, in his progress through all his 
deep and serious agitations, doubts, difficulties, hopes, 
and fears, from his earliest religious awakenings to the 
moment when he finds solid peace with God, giving 
serenity to his countenance, cheerfulness to his heart, 
and a holy confidence which continues with him and 
supports him in the last hours of life ? Now though God 
be justly acknowledged to be the author and finisher 
of faith ; and though it be a true assertion, that without 
him we can do nothing that is good ; yet to the glory 
of his name be it uttered, that " with him we can, and 
he demands we should do all things." The Gospel 
assures us, that a measure of grace is given to every 
person to profit withal. We are the offspring of the 
most beneficent Creator, who has not only conferred 
human existence upon us, but given us an interest in 
the redemption which is in Christ. His administration 
is uniform, his promises hold out the sincerest offers, 
and are worthy of our most steadfast reliance. 

The apostle Paul attributes his imprisonment, &c. to 
his asserting the right of the Gentiles to become the 
children of God, without conforming to the Jewish 
law. This was the doctrine to which he considered 
himself a martyr. Thus, Colos. i. 24, (I Paul) " who 
now rejoice in my sufferings for you." Shortly after, 
he adds, " I would that ye knew what great conflict 1 
hare for you, and for them in Laodicea, and for as 
many as have not seen my face in the flesh." In 
Ephes. iv. 1, M For this cause, 1 Paul, the prisoner of 



148 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. " He tells us, that the 
mystery of Christ for which he was in bondage, was 
44 what in other ages was not made known unto the 
ions of men, but is now revealed to his holy apostles 
and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be 
fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers oi 
the promise of Christ by the Gospel. " When he re- 
lated to the Jews a vision he had in the temple, 
which bid him depart out of Jerusalem, "for I will 
send thee fir hence unto the Gentiles, they gave au- 
dience to that word, and then lift up their voices and 
said, Away with such a fellow from the earth." The 
seizing of the apostle's person, his shipwreck, his im- 
prisonment at Rome, and a variety of other particulars, 
not in consequence of any general persecution set on 
foot against Christianity, (James and the elders at Je- 
rusalem remaining unmolested) but brought upon him 
by his activity in preaching to the Gentiles, and by his 
boldly placing them upon a level with the once favour* 
ed, and still self-flattered posterity of Abraham. 

Now that all mankind are made the joint partakers of 
the grace of God, is a truth firmly established on the 
basis of Scripture. What can be plainer or more con- 
soling than the declaration, that "God was in Christ 
reconciling the world unto himself ?" that " God so 
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son ?" 
that " He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours 
only, but for the sins of the whole world ?" " The 
Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world ?" 
He was " indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." 
His commission was, " Go ye forth into all the world. 
and preach the gospel to every creature." These, and 
many more that might be easily adduced, are strong 
proofs of the virtue of that grace which has visited 
every soul of man, from the first openings of intellec- 
tual capacity. 

How malicious must it be to aver, that " God has 
framed his laws difficult, and contrary to our inclina- 
tions, that he may take the advantage of our infirmity 
to ruin us for our disobedience to them ?" So far is 
God from such an intention, that he declares repeatedly 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 149 

that our destruction is of ourselves, while he is " free 
from the blood of all men ," To withstand and over- 
come the degeneracy of human nature, God has provi- 
ded an all-sufficient remedy in the Lamb of God, who 
taketh away the sins of the world, and in that grace 
which, bringing salvation, has appeared unto all men. 

Mr. P. tells us, that man is so void of any influence 
of God upon his soul, that " He has no disposition to 
will or do any thing acceptable to God, until God puts 
the will within him by his special grace." What 
Methodist doubts that it is God who gives both grace 
and glory ; who gives to some person one measure or 
talent, and to others more ; but whether this beneficent 
Father of all mankind overlooks myriads by a decree 
of pretention, or contrives their ruin by a decree of 
reprobation ? Whether, after withholding all divine as- 
sistance, he can then with any thing like justice, make 
as rigid a demand for improvement, as if he had given 
five or ten talents to occupy and improve ? God is 
good, and merciful, and just, as well as great and pow- 
erful. He is impartial without respect of persons; 
influenced by no power ; impaired by no time ; pre- 
sent every where ; the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
ever ; essentially good ; diffusing streams of goodness 
to all, according to their natures and capacities. He 
has not only provided for the body, but also for the 
soul ; so that what we lost in Adam, is abundantly re- 
paired in Christ. " As by one man sin entered into 
the world, and death by sin ; so the grace of God hath 
abounded to all men through Jesus Christ," to counter- 
vail the ill effects of the first offence, and to bring the 
whole man into obedience to Christ. And though there 
be a law in the members warring against the law of 
the mind ; and the sensitive appetites be apt to rebel 
against reason and grace, yet every Christian, exerci- 
sing himself unto godliness, may be able to say with the 
apostle, " Thanks be to God, who giveth the victory 
through Jesus Christ." 

But does not our Saviour himself make use of the 
terms " elect and chosen ?" I answer, he does, some- 
times expressly, and- sometimes figuratively, a9 his 
13* 



150 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

sheep, and his branches. Our Saviour designates his 
followers, at first few in number, but contemplated as 
a great multitude in future, as the chosen of God, 
Moses, Deut. vii. 6, addresses the Israelites as a chosen 
people. But did he intend to ascribe sanctity of mind 
to every individual of the whole body ? or of the 
major part ? No ; for he tells them " that they had been 
a rebellious people from the very day on which they 
departed from the land of Egypt." VVhat then was the 
ground of the epithet ? It was God's choice of the 
Israelites to be a people in covenant with him ; to be 
favoured with a revelation of his will, and to maintain 
the profession of the true God, until the appointed 
time of gathering a church from among all nations, 
The same title of elect is applied to them by the pro- 
phets. It was therefore a maintaining the style of holy 
writ to speak of those who had been brought within 
the pale of the Christian Church under the name of 
"chosen or elect. " The Calvinistic sense of elect is 
very inapplicable from John vi. 70, where Judas is re* 
cognised as one of them. " Those that thou gavest 
me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son 
of perdition." The immediate disciples of our Lord 
w r ere given to him for the laying of the foundation of 
his church. He acknowledged Judas as one of the 
chosen, but that although chosen, he proved a traitor. 
Where Christ says that false Christs and false pro- 
phets shall deceive, if it were possible, the very elect, 
the words " if it were possible," are brought in by 
some as showing the utter impossibility of the elect 
being seduced from the ways of God. But while the 
w r ords express some considerable difficulty, thej' do not 
imply absolute impossibility. Saint Paul hastened, "if 
it were possible," to be at Jerusalem at the feast of 
Pentecost. The same apostle commands, (i if it be pos- 
sible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all 
men." If the former case were an utter impossibility, 
it would not be attempted. And if the latter had been 
such, it would not have been advised. The clause 
evidently intimates no more than that the accomplish- 
ment of the purpose was doubtful^ 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION, 151 

While God is acknowledged to have an absolute right 
to, and authority over all his creatures, as his own work- 
manship, he lays no claim to a right to contrive the ex- 
treme misery of innocent creatures, millions of ages 
before they were born. God claims an equitable right. 
He never makes them miserable without a cause, or 
provocation persisted in. And because some hard 
thinkers are very apt to entertain such unworthy 
thoughts of God, he has given his oath that "he has no 
pleasure in the death of a sinner." God cannot be 
glorified in doing evil where justice does not require it. 
He would be a monster among men who would do so. 
The good God does not tempt his creatures to evil, that 
he may afterward have the monstrous and cruel plea- 
sure of punishing them. A reasonable creature cannot 
be guilty of any thing which it could not help, or de- 
serve punishment for what it could not possibly avoid. 
Men cannot possibly have a blacker thought of God 
than to imagine that he has applied all the attributes of 
deity to the secret contrivance of drawing mankind into 
snares of ruin, that he might raise a revenue of glory 
to his justice in their condemnation and punishment, 
There is no generous father but would deny such a 
charge if brought against himself with respect to his 
children. And if men, who possess but comparative 
drops of goodness, would take such conduct for the 
greatest reproach, how much more our Father who is 
is in heaven ? 

Here, however, a class of texts is brought up, con* 
sisting of declarations of the immutability of the coun- 
sels of God, and of his foreknowledge of all the events 
which were to be brought about in the order of his 
providence, such as Isa. xlvi. 10, " My counsel shall 
stand, and 1 will do all my pleasure. 5 ' Solomon tells us. 
u The counsel of the Lord shall stand." In the New 
Testament, it is said, " He worketh all things accord- 
ing to the counsel of his own will," and " known unto 
God are all his works from the beginning of the 
world." Many other passages might be mentioned to 
the same effect, but they signify nothing in contrariety 
to those who acknowledge the sovereignty of God. 



152 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

What I demand is scriptural authority, to show that 
God's power and foreknowledge are exercised or illus- 
trated in creating, in order to everlasting destruction. 
The doctrine is first presumed by Mr. P. and then those 
passages produced as proof of the unchangeableness 
of the event 

Another class of texts is made to speak of wicked 
men, and of God making their wickedness the medium 
of their destruction. The Calvinistic interpretation 
supposes that God makes them wicked with a view to 
that unhappy end. Thus, where it is said (Joshua 
xi. 20,) concerning the Canaanites — " It was of the 
Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come 
against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them ut- 
terly." This text amounts to no more than that those 
nations, being very wicked, and on that account their 
excision being determined on by the Lord of life and 
death ; his providence so disposed the series of events 
as to incite them to hazard battle with a power, before 
which they had not strength to stand. Their wicked- 
ness had been frequently spoken of in the foregoing 
history, and made the ground of a destruction, of which 
the Israelites were declared to be the executioners. 
Will any one therefore infer, " that they were brought 
into existence under an inevitable necessity of being 
wicked." In Proverbs xvi. 4, we read, " The Lord 
hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked 
for the day of wrath." The word translated " made," 
signifies to go through a work, or bring it to effect. 
As applied in this place, it means that God so disposes 
matters as to cause the wickedness of men to bring them 
to the day of evil ; if, indeed, evil to them be the mat- 
ter intended in this place ; and not rather their being 
the instruments of accomplishing the divine purposes in 
evil to be brought on others, as in the case of the king 
of Assyria, Isaiah x. 5, who was in the hands of God, 
the rod of his anger, and the staff of his indignation 
against the surrounding nations. The words will bear 
either interpretation. 

How Mr. Pelton can charge the most holy and righ- 
teous God, either with a reprobation which decrees the 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION* 153 

ruin and punishment of men, decreeing that they must 
sin, and so be unavoidably punished, is most difficult of 
comprehension. This must overthrow altogether our 
notion of goodness in God, as an inclination and disposi- 
tion of the Divine Nature to communicate being and 
happiness to his creatures. But surely nothing can be 
more contrary to such a disposition, than an absolute 
resolution to make them unavoidably and everlastingly 
miserable. God is infinitely better than the best of 
men. No good man would positively and perempto- 
rily resolve to destroy his children, and form this reso- 
lution many years before their birth, without any 
respect to their actions. It would not be an easy mat- 
ter to devise a worse character than this of the devil. 

Isaiah vi. 10, " Make the heart of this people fat, and 
make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they 
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and un« 
derstand with their heart, and convert, and be healed, " 
is a text brought in to support the inexorable decree. 
Here we have a denunciation, which was to continue in 
execution " until the cities be wasted without inhabi- 
tant, and the houses without man, and the land be ut- 
terly desolate, and the Lord have removed men far 
away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the 
land." The impending captivity at Babylon, is the 
matter intended in these words, which are also follow- 
ed by the promise of a remnant who should return. 
The abounding wickedness of the people was the cause 
of the denunciation, and of the punishment which fol- 
lowed. The nation being excessively corrupt, was 
about to be punished by a seventy years banishment 
from their country. 

But Mr. P. says, " that God can do what he pleases in 
decreeing, hardening, and blinding, as an act of absolute 
sovereignty. " But surely this would be contrary to the 
moral perfections of God, and therefore inconsistent 
with them. And we must take heed of dishonouring 
the Judge of all the earth, by attributing such a sove- 
reignty to him, as contradicts his justice, mercy, and 
goodness. For, if the sovereignty of God may break in 
at pleasure upon the other attributes of the Divine Na= 



154 ELECTION AND REPROBATION". 

ture, then it signifies nothing to say, that God is good, 
or wise, or just, if his sovereignty may at any time act 
in open contradiction to them. 

But, it may he asked, why does our Saviour make use 
of this passage, and after him his apostle Paul, in Acts 
xxviii. 26 ? To this it may be replied, that our Lord's 
ministry found the Jewish nation in just such a crisis as 
that formerly contemplated by Isaiah. Was there not 
impending an awful captivity now by the Romans ? 
And was there ever a passage more pertinently trans- 
ferred from a past event to a future ? But after all, the 
passage, as applied by our Saviour, refers to a particu- 
lar species of his discourses ; not as hardening the 
heart, but as wrapping up his meaning in parables, to 
prevent their being the means of hardening it the 
more. When he delivered his sermon on the mount 
relative to the ordinary discipline of the mind, and go- 
vernment of life, the people were astonished at his doc- 
trine, being expressed in language void of figure and 
concealment of every kind. But when he delivered 
what was peculiarly intended of his kingdom, that is, of 
his church, it was designed especially for his apostles, 
to whom it was " given to know the mysteries of the 
kingdom of God." It is not said that those mysteries 
were withheld from the people, " lest they should con- 
vert and be healed." To give this construction, would 
be to connect two subjects without regard to what occurs 
intermediately. No ; it is " because they, seeing, see 
not ; and hearing, hear not ; neither do they under- 
stand," Matt. xiii. 13: that is, (speaking of them na- 
tionally,) they would not admit the intelligence of his 
spiritual kingdom. Then follows the quotation from 
Isaiah, which is merely said to be fulfilled : that is, as 
in Isaiah's time, so now, the nation was waxing ripe for 
destruction ; and would not be reclaimed. In the se- 
veral passages of the New Testament in which the pas- 
sage from Isaiah is quoted, the act of hardening is no- 
where apparently affirmed of the divine Being, except in 
John, where the words may be divested of this harsh 
signification, if we construe the original word on the 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 155 

supposition of its being used impersonally, which is fre- 
quent in the Greek language. 

Now if the absolute reprobation of unborn creatures, 
and the moral attributes of God, cannot stand together, 
the question is which side ought to he considered as 
taking the lead ? What St. Paul determines in another 
case concerning the truth and fidelity of God, will 
equally apply here. " Let God be good, and every 
man (attempting to oppose his goodness) a liar." The 
doctrine reprobating human creatures to inevitable sin 
and ruin, cannot consist with the attributes of the good 
and merciful God ; and cannot therefore be a true doc- 
trine. If God have no pleasure in the ruin of sinners, 
how can he be supposed to be the contriver of their sin 
first, and then of their ruin ? No father was ever as well 
pleased with the good conduct and thriving condition 
of his children, as God is with the welfare of his ra- 
tional creatures. To express this, he uses the most 
expressive language. " O ! that they were wise — O ! 
that there were such an heart in them — O! that my 
people had hearkened unto me — O ! that thou hadst 
known the things belonging to thy peace. These are 
some of the declarations by which God puts the matter 
out of all doubt for ever. If words be fair declarations 
of the mind, those declarations must convince us, that 
God has no pleasure in the death of a sinner. 

Should Mr. P. ask, " why then do not all escape 
from ruin ?" God himself gives a most sufficient answer. 
" O Israel (not I, but) thou hast destroyed thyself.' 5 
I admonished, but " my people would not hearken to 
my voice — Israel would none of me." The declara- 
tion of God is most descriptive : " I called, but ye re- 
fused." After having made the generous offer, be 
closes with, " Ye will not come to me, that ye may have 
life." After sending his Holy Spirit as a divine in- 
fluence, he had to add, " Ye resist the Holy Ghost, as 
your fathers did." When wisdom from above directed, 
it had to aver, " Ye reject the counsel of God against 
yourselves." Instead of being chargeable with con- 
triving their ruin, the language of God is, " Your de- 



.156 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

struction is of yourselves." Hence he declares, 4 * I 
am free from your blood — your blood is upon your own 
heads." 

But cannot God do what he pleases with his own 
gifts and graces ? To this it may be answered, that it 
would be unfairly interpreted, to suppose, that though 
divine grace must go before, in a previous discipline, 
and assist in it, that nothing can be connected with, or 
dependent on the predisposing habits of the individual. 
The previous state of the mind has no small concern 
with the great business. Hence the seed of the word is 
more likely to flourish in one soil than in another, from 
its having been sown " in an honest and good heart.'" 
The good or evil spoken of (John iii. 20, 21,) is pre- 
paratory to the coming to the light. The Jews of 
Berea (Acts xvii. 11,) are commended above those of 
Thessalonica, because they "received the word with 
all readiness of mind." When Christ opened his com- 
mission to the Jews, their reception or rejection of the 
gracious offer depended in no small degree on the states of 
mind cherished by them under the former dispensation. 
The Saviour said to a certain Scribe, " Thou art not 
far from the kingdom of God." Now we know that as 
propinquity may be favourable to a person's entering a 
place, so improving even one talent, may be an intro- 
duction to two or more, at an after period. 

But whatever the previous states of men's minds may 
happen to be, God has made his feast — furnished his 
table — all things are now ready — his invitations are 
sent forth — his offers are most candid and liberal — It 
remains with men to come or stay. God forces happi- 
ness upon no man. He has constituted human nature 
rational and moral, and presents it with such motives 
as are fit to prevail with reasonable creatures ; afford- 
ing them, at the same time, all necessary and sufficient 
assistance. No man, therefore, can charge either his 
fault or his punishment upon that good God, who speaks 
of himself as clear of our blood. He speaks this with- 
out any reserve, or dark distinction between his secret 
and revealed will, decreeing one thing, and declaring 



ELECTION AND REPROBATES. 167 

another. No man, therefore, has the least reason to 
be discouraged, under any thing like a surmise that 
God has put a fatal stumbling-block in his way. 

But is it not said, Matt. xi. 25, " That these things 
were hid from the wise and prudent, and revealed to 
babes ?" Answer. The words "wise and prudent'* 
are here used in a sense implying censure ; and the 
word " babes," in a sense of approbation. Under the 
simplicity and sincerity of the babe, there must be 
conveyed the sense of a mental preparation for re= 
ceiving the truths of the Gospel, and under the world 
ly wisdom of the other, disability and hinderance : 
What has this to do with the subjection of some to an 
unavoidable necessity of sinning, and of others to an 
irresistible call of grace ? Nay, our Saviour tells us 
that this was good in the sight of God, which could 
iaot be true of a dispensation constructed so as to con~ 
tradict our best founded apprehensions of God, and hk 
moral attributes. The very relation in which we stand 
to God, as his accountable creatures, is lost, the 
moment we imagine any such decree is in operation. 
If an offender be once persuaded that a decree is em- 
ployed to bring about his sin, he will no longer submit 
to feel pain from the terrors of a guilty conscience. 
What must he feel in the hour of death, if he should ima- 
gine that God brought him first to be a sinner, and with 
intention to punish him for ever ? 

The greatest danger is to be apprehended from car- 
rying any principle of religion to an extreme. For as 
some persons are too apt to entertain vain hopes of 
their superficially good condition ; so others torment 
themselves with groundless fears of being reprobated. 
This is most unreasonable, as a surmise, of the infi- 
nitely good and just God. But where reprobation is 
sown in public, as a Gospel seed, it must be expected to 
spring up. For the comfort of such as are educated io 
this error, let them be assured, that we have no warrant 
from Scripture to suspect any such secret treachery in 
God. As to Acts xiii. 48, " As many as were ordained 
to eternal life believed." The word " ordained" has 
.a great latitude of signification. In 1 Cor. xvi. 15, we. 

14 



J 58 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

read — ,c They have" addicted u themselves to the mi* 
uistry of the saints." In Acts xx. 13 — for so had he 
'appointed," or more strictly, so was he " disposed." 
The word " ordained," therefore, as applied to this 
place, means a certain preparation of heart, disposing 
certain persons to believe ; which we ought the rather 
suppose to be the matter intended, as the expression 
describes a contrariety of character in the Jews, who 
rejected the Gospel — " It was necessary that the word 
of God should first have been spoken to you ; but see- 
ing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy 
>f everlasting life, lol we turn to the Gentiles." Here 
were persons indisposed to eternal life, who therefore 
of their own accord thrust it from them. Or! the con 
trarv, as many " as were disposed to eternal life, be 
lieved." 

The decrees of God being secret, cannot be a rule to 
us, either of our duty or comfort. No man, therefore, 
has auy just reason to think himself rejected of God. 
who does not rind something like the plain marks of 
reprobation In himself. Nay, should he know by an 
examination of his heart and life, that he is not in the 
favour of God for the present, yet he ought not to con 
hide that God has cast him off for ever. For men to 
fudge of their everlasting condition from secret decrees, 
and not from the word, which is nigh and obvious, feto 
^teer their course by stars which they cannot see. 
while the\ neglect the compass, map, and quadrant.. 
which would a fiord a more certain direction. Moses 
determined the matter long since, by declaring that 
' secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the 
•Jungs that are revealed, to us and to our children." 
\Vith respect to 1 Peter ii. C — ;t Whereunto also [tie 
struction] they were appointed." The context de- 
ibes those persons as " disobedient," whereby the 
preaching of a Saviour became to them "a stone of 
-tumbling and a rock of offence." The character of 
the party is "disobedience," after which follows ap 
pointed destruction, as the result of it. The Syriac i~. 
ki at which [stone] they stumble, who are disobedient 
to the word, to which [word] they also were set, foi 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 1 5 9 

appointed. 5 '] The paraphrase of Erasmus is thus— 
" And they stumble who are offended at the word of 
the Gospel, and believe it not ; seeing Moses's law 
made them ready beforehand, to the end that the} 
should believe the Gospel, as soon as the thing was truly 
performed in deed, which the law signified in shadow/* 

If all things be so unchangeably fixed, as that the 
omnipotent providence of God cannot change them, a 
great part of religion, but especially prayer, is excluded. 
If God cannot interfere to help or change, it would be 
vain to pray to him for the advancement of any good 
purpose, or to thank him as the author of it. All 
prayer evidently presupposes that God can overrule 
events, and even direct them to the best points. The 
success of prayer being often evidenced, must convince 
us that there can be nothing secret which God cannot 
overrule. Evil that we fear, he can so overrule as to 
answer purposes of present and future good. Jude, ver 
4, tells us, " Some were before of old ordained ;" the 
place itself mentions the ground of this condemnation. 
It states that they w r ere ungodly men, turning the grace 
of God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord 
God and our Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, let 
it be remarked, that there is here no ordaining in the 
usual sense of the word. It is "before written," and 
in its connexion may properly be translated "of whom 
it was before written." It must mean, either that the 
end of such ungodly men might be seen, it was foretold 
in prophecy ; or that their destruction might be traced, 
cither by themselves, or by others, in the ends ot 
former ungodly men on record. Nothing can be far- 
ther from the sense of the passage, than that their 
being ungodly was part of the ordination. 

If sins and punishments be absolutely decreed, what 
room can there be for speaking of God's patience and 
long-suffering, of which we so frequently read ? He 
waited on the ancient world one hundred and twenty 
years ; which not repenting, he sent a general flood 
He waited on the Jews '< forty years long in the wilder- 
ness." He allowed the Ninevites forty days. Now to 
what end does God exercise so much patience but tha f 



ICO ELECTION ANO REPROBATION 

men may come to repentance, forsake their evil ways* 
and live. God warns men, that by his threatenings they 
may be alarmed and fly for refuge to the open door of 
hope which is set before them. While by his prophets 
he threatened death to the people of Israel, he at the 
same time invited and urged them to repentance. The 
condition always expressed is, " to repent and turn from 
their evil ways," and the assurance is, that " God would 
repent of the evil which he said he would do to them.' 
Thus, " At what instant 1 speak concerning a nation, 
and a kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down, and to 
destroy it ; if that nation turn from evil, I will repent 
of the evil which I thought to do unto them." 

The agency and exercises of conscience are incom- 
patible with an unchangeable decree. Conscience is 
o{ vast moment in religion. It is the great principle. 
uf moral action, and our guide in matters of sin and 
duty. Every man is spoken of as having a court 
within his own breast. There he tries himself and all 
his actions. Conscience, under some character, sus- 
tains every part of this trial. The court is called the 
court of conscience. The bar at which the sinner is 
impleaded, is called the bar of conscience. Conscience 
is the accuser. It is the record or register of his 
crimes, in which their memory is preserved. It is the 
w itness which gives testimony for, or against him. It 
is the judge which declares the law, and what man 
ought, or ought not to have done. Or, in still plainer 
language, conscience is the judgment of a man's own 
mind concerning his actions, informing him what things 

are Commanded of God, and oo his dtllj , what things 

are forbidden, and so consequently sinful. But if every 
thing good, bad, or indifferent which may happen, be de- 
termined already by an inevitable ordination, what need 
is there for conscience raising those ghosts , and spreading 
those alarms, when one of these acts could be no more 
prevented by him than the rising or setting of the sun. 
Why then should Acts ii. 47, be brought in to show the 
unchangeable determination ? " And the Lord added tfc 
the church daily such as should be saved." The stress 
s here laid on the words " should be," as if the event 






ELECTION AND REPROBATION. ill 

followed from some previous discriminating determina 
tion. But this is not exactly the sense of the original 
which might be translated " were saved," or who had 
accepted of the salyation offered to them. The mean 
ing is, that of those who had accepted of the condi 
tions of the Gospel, there were daily additions to the 
Christian Church. 

The scriptural doctrine of a divine providence, go 
veraing the world, and wisely disposing of the affairs 
of men, must remove a fixed unalterable fate. Though 
all things be wisely framed to attain their proper ends. 
yet we cannot avoid supposing that God has reserved 
to himself a power and liberty to interpose whenever 
he sees proper, to awaken men to the consideration of 
his presence and government, as well as to a continual 
dependence upon him ; and at the same time to teach 
them to ascribe those things to his wise disposal, which 
if no change were seen in their course, men would be- 
too apt to impute to blind necessity. It must be ac- 
knowledged, therefore, that sometimes things so change 
from the general manner, that fck the race is not always 
to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." Bui if there 
be a providence, there can be no ground for fixed and 
unchangeable necessity. 

Surely, the gospel dispensation, through a divine Me 
diator, raises our conceptions of God to the highest 
pitch. For, instead of framing any thing of a secret, 
ensnaring, and destructive nature, w he so loved the 
world as to give his only begotten Son, that men might 
not perish, but obtain eternal life." And if his love 
to the human race be carried to the highest degree in 
making him a curse for us, to redeem us from the curse 
of a broken law, we cannot consistently attribute to 
him any thing ungenerous. The love of Christ, so 
far from being of the common kind, " surpasseth know- 
ledge." He was " wounded for our transgression, and 
bruised for our iniquities." Hence may «* forgiveness 
of sins be preached in his name to all people," Hence 
may his " gospel be preached to every creature," How 
irreconcileable must such a commission be with abso 
•ufe predestination ? How different is this from that 
14* 



J 62 ELECTION AND REPROBATION* 

dreadful scheme which makes " God of his own plea- 
sure, so ordain, that some should be so born as to be 
devoted from the womb to certain destruction, who by 
this might glorify his name ;" alluding to Exod. xxxiii. 
19, " I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and 
will show mercy to whom I will show mercy." This 
would not be considered as importing more than a tern- 
poral promise if it had not been quoted from the Epistk 
to the Romans also, where it is thought to have a refe- 
rence to eternal happiness. The word translated " I 
will be gracious," strictly means, " I will seize or take 
possession," alluding to Israel as " the Lord's inheri- 
tance." The word translated, " I will have mercy," 
bears the sense of compassion, thus Jacob prays, " God 
Almighty give you mercy before the man." But what 
has this to do with dooming some, by an everlasting 

eprobation, to unavoidable sin and punishment ? 

Joshua, the great successor of Moses, knew nothing 
of this unchangeable decree. He knew of nothing to 
binder men from making a free choice. After he 
had settled the people of Israel in the quiet possession 
of Canaan, he called a general assembly, and after 
representing to them how God had delivered them, and 
brought them into that good land, and had punctually 
performed all his promises ; he advises them to make 
an open and unequivocal choice of the Lord Jehovah 

ts their God ; showing that religion and all its divine 
connexions may be their own free choice. And to di- 

ect and encourage them to make a right choice, he 
openly declares to them his own resolution, which he 
hopes will be theirs also. Whether they will follow 
him or not, he leaves to themselves. He, for his part. 
is fixed in the resolution, that not only himself, but as 
far as his example and advice can affect his most inti- 
mate connexions and relations, his house or family also, 
shall be the humble servants of the living God. How 
different this language from the Institutes of Calvin ? 
** Whom he (God) hath created unto shame of life, 

.rod destruction of death, that they should be instru- 
ments of his wrath, and examples of his severity, that 

hey may come to their end : at one time he deprives 



ELECTION AND REPR03ATI0N* 163 

them of the power of hearing his word, at another, he 
She more blinds and stupifies them." 

That there is no black decree which binds men over 
to damnation, is evident from the redemption of Christ, 
in which all are said to have an interest. God has made 
nothing that is necessary to our eternal happiness im- 
possible. That is not impossible to us which we may 
do by the assistance of another, if we may have that 
assistance for asking it. Christ has even promised to 
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask for it. So that 
notwithstanding our circumstances as the offspring of 
fallen Adam, it is not absolutely out of our power, 
through the grace that is given us in Jesus, to leave our 
sins and turn to God. That may with all propriety be 
said to be in our power, which God has promised us 
assistance to do, if we be not wanting to ourselves 
How misapplied is Isaiah, Ixv. 1, when taken from its" 
proper subject, the calling of the Gentiles into the 
church ; and applied to individuals ? The prophet, 
carried by vision to the time of the event, says, " I am 
sought of them that asked not for me ; I am found of 
them that sought me not ; I said, Behold me, behold 
me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. 3 * 
And then, contrasting the calling of the Gentiles with 
the foreseen apostacy of the Jews, he adds, " I have 
spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious peo- 
ple." The 10th chapter of Romans applies the pro- 
phecy as here interpreted to the Israelites, of whom it 
19 designed ; but the Calvinists warp it into the service 
of the predestinating decree. 

Nothing on God's part hinders our present and eter 
nal salvation. He solemnly declares that he is ready 
to assist us in this great concern. What a lively de- 
scription of this have we in the history of the prodigal 
son. What a number of circumstances descriptive of 
the affection of the true paternal relation and character 
unfold themselves to the plainest eye, in the course ot 
this short narrative ? The father is said " to have seen 
him afar off, and to have compassion, and to run to meet 
him." Why should we cast the awful stumbling-block 
of a decree in the way of such a father ? or such a 



164 ELECTION AND REFROBATI02C. 

son ? Matt. xv. 13, is misapplied in this service — "Even 
plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall 
be rooted up. 55 The Greek word signifies, not so pro- 
perly a single plant, but a collection of plants ; that is 
a garden or plantation. The charge made by our Sa 
viour just before, concerning the Pharisees, was, thai 
they " taught for doctrines the commandments of men/ 
Then, on being told that they were offended at his say 
ing, he uttered the denunciation now in question, it 
means that the assumed authority of th s hypocritical 
sect, would fall under the divinely instituted authority 
of the spiritual kingdom of the speaker. 

God making of the same lump of clay, one vessel to 
honour, and another to dishonour, is made to advance 
a partial election or reprobation. The words in thr 
original imply not an opposition, but a difference in de- 
gree of honour ; as one glory of the sun, another of 
the moon, and another of the stars : and that as one 
star differs from another in glory, so shall it be in the 
resurrection. In the measures of grace also, God 
gives one, two, or five talents. Of him to whom much 
is given, much will be required. And the great Judge 
promises to deal with every man on this equitable plan. 
Of the same lump of clay, one branch of a family may 
possess higher privileges than another ; but neverthe- 
less, each of the members may possess a saving mea- 
sure of the grace of God. While the Scriptures draw 
the most admirable picture of the Divine Being in 
creation and providence, and particularly in giving bis 
only begotten Son, with what horror must the mind 
turn away from the Institutes, saying, " That God not 
only foresaw that Adam would fall, but also ordained 
that he should— that when men therefore perish in their 
corruption, they do nothing but suffer the punishment 
of that sin, into which, by God's predestination, Adam 
fell, and drew his posterity headlong with him." On 
the side of the elect also, every thing is made to be 
unchangeable. Where it is said, that " their names are 
written in heaven," is brought forward as a proof. Now 
a' register may refer to the book of a general, respecting 
his army, ox of a pastor, concerning his flock.. The 



ELECTION AND REPROfcATIO.W IG5 

subject does not preclude all possibility of erasure 
in consequence of default. There is always hazard 
run in building doctrine on figurative language ; but 
when this is attempted, there should be consistency. 
When our Saviour " will gather his elect from the four 
winds," he announces a future judgment. When St, 
Paul speaks of certain persons, " whose names were in 
the book of life," he only declares his opinion of 
their Christian character. This has nothing to do with 
predestination, a speculation running so far ahead of 
any guidance found in Scripture, that it is not only 
" weaving the spider's web," but also " hatching the 
cockatrice's eggs," from which many a viper must 
spring. 

If God's decree be accomplished by any one as an 
agent, does not the actor do God's will ? How then can 
his conduct be ranked under the name of sin, and sub- 
ject him to the heaviest punishment ? Is not a conduct 
which fulfils his will, a pure, formal, and commend- 
able obedience, and therefore entitled to his approba- 
tion and reward ? But the Scriptures every where re- 
present sin as displeasing to God, and justly liable 
to punishment. 

When we speak of the goodness of God, and of his 
justice, we cannot but conceive of these properties, as 
the same in kind, with what we find in men, though in- 
finitely higher in degree. And we certainly cannot 
err in thus conceiving of them. God has not disdained 
to invite us to judge of his dealings towards us, by the 
same rules of equity, which apply to our dealings with 
one another. 

The observant eye sees the footsteps of infinite- 
goodness impressed on every department of the divine 
administration. The wings of the bird ; the fins oi 
the scaly tribes ; as well as the hoof which roams the 
dark forest, or inhabits the fruitful plains, are all sc 
many means of good to them, as well as productive., 
both of instruction and consolation to man. Now ii 
God extend his care to the meanest of his creatures, 
why exclude man from a share in the divine good- 
ness ? Surely, such as instruct others ought not to 



16G ELECTION AND REPROBATION, 

press their own opinions as the decisions of holy writ. 
It is an awful threat — " If any man shall add unto these 
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are 
written in this book." When doctrines are promulga- 
ted, which strike directly at the divine attributes, we 
ought to imitate the apostle Paul — " Let God be true, 
and every man a liar :" that is, let all the attributes ci 
the divine nature be sustained ; whatever may be the 
consequences to the theories of fallible and frail men. 

If there be an unavoidable decree, which puis the 
Supreme Being under restrictions, and obliges him to 
do as he does in every thing, how can there be such 
a thing as grace, or favour ? If the grace of God be a 
favour which he must bestow, it hardly deserves the 
name of donation, or largess. That cannot be a bounty 
which we are obliged to confer. Now to stop up the 
innumerable streams of divine goodness, in order to 
keep an unmeaning tiecree in public credit, must be a 
very great disparagement to Him, whose tender mer- 
cies are over all his works. Many sincere professor? 
among the Calvinists, are shocked at this picture of the 
author and nispen-er of all good, denying those conse- 
quences, at the same time that they are sensible of the 
difficulty attending their system, in this respect. 

An absolute unchangeable decree, must be inconsis 
tent with the co^ mands of God, His giving commands- 
presupposes that :e gives also a sufficiency of power to 
obey them. Had God given us laws, but no power to 
keep them, his commands indeed would be grievous. 
It is true, we are weak and impotent as the fallen de- 
scendants of Adam ; but the ^race which the Gospel 
brings us through Christ, is altogether sufficient to 
answer every possible injunction laid upon us. This 
is a just foundation for declaring that " his commands 
are not grievous ;" his assistance being proportionable 
to any difficulty that may attend the path of duty. Bui: 
we are also to remember, that this divine assistance i> 
not forced upon men whether they will or no. It is 
to be asked for ; and when obtained, to be improved a& 
a talent. We must not imagine, that because God is 
(he author of every good work, and the bestower oC 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 1C? 

every good gift, that we are authorized from that to lay 
aside every endeavour of our own. Nay, if after com- 
mencing well, and going on regularly for some time, we 
turn aside to folly, we positively forfeit the divine aids, 
and are rendered liable to punishment. 

Many of the rigid Calvinists believe that God cannot 
condemn an innocent creature to everlasting torments. 
Witsius affirms, that " It is unbecoming the goodness of 
God, nay, 1 would almost say his justice, to adjudge an 
innocent creature to everlasting torments." But then> 
he and others, to support their own creed, in such im- 
minent danger here, add, " that being guilty as the off- 
spring of Adam, we are deserving of punishment." 
Calvin also states, Institutes, book II. chap. i. sect. 8, 
fi Infants themselves, as they bring their condemnation 
with them into the world, are rendered obnoxious to 
punishment by their own sinfulness, and not by the sin- 
fulness of another." Surely reason (as well as reve- 
lation,) raises its voice here to interdict an evident in- 
terference of a doctrine or creed, with what we know 
of the attributes of Almighty God. For what is the dif- 
ference between an absolute decree which forces evil 
upon a person irresistibly, and the subjecting of the 
same person to the necessity of sinning, by the circum- 
stances under which he is brought into existence ? 

When our doctrines cease to be as true to the divine 
word, as the dial to the sun, it is amazing to what 
dreadful lengths of error we are liable to run. The 
sentiment held forth by the Institutes, must appear to 
every impartial mind, to cast a most awful imputation 
on the just and holy God, when it charges him with the 
determined act " of calling on reprobates for the ex- 
press purpose of making them yet more deaf; of kind- 
ling a light for them, that they may be yet more blind ; 
of affording them his doctrine, that they may be the 
more confounded ; and applying a remedy to them, that 
uiey may not be healed." Surely the invitations of the 
Gospel must appear to every sincere reader, in quite 
a different light, when they call on all, pledging its 
truth, and holding out its great and precious promises, 
histead of trifling with the hopes and fears of its vofu' 



168 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

vies, all is sincere, and means what it declares. Mr. 
Turretine argues, that " In an innocent creature there 
cannot be the consciousness of crime, and of the just 
judgment of God ; which constitutes the punishment.'* 

Must not this acknowledgment comprehend every crea* 
ture, not conscious of any act, but such as it has been 
)rresistibly impelled to ? What ground can there be, 
then, for the painful retrospect of lost opportunities, as 
things that might have been applied to the working out 
of salvation ? Let a person live in sin, and then going to 
his punishment, find that all was forced upon him ; 
whatever he suffers, he cannot suffer the reproaches 
of a convicted conscience. To suppose that such a 
horrible decree only " shows the glory of God in the 
highest point of view ;" it may easily be replied, that 
from such a dreadful dispensation no glory can arisej 
but rather a tyranny, calling human creatures into ex- 
istence for the purpose of illustrating his glory in their 
everlasting damnation. 

Some men, in an almost desperate state of evil, are 
brought in as a proof " that they are under some 6ecret 
decree which prevents them." Now though the cases 
of some may be alarming, yet they may not be despe- 
Fate. There may be still some ground of hope left, of 
their being brought to God. Humanly speaking the 
thing may seem almost impossible, yet the things which 
with men are impossible, are possible with God. There 
is even in the worst, something which may awaken 
consideration. God may employ some providential 
stroke. There is left in the most vicious, some sense 
of the evil and unreasonableness of sin, which can never 
be totally extinguished in this life. Though evil habits 
be very apt to harden and stupify, yet the worst of 
men are sometimes under strong convictions, and their 
consciences severely check and reprove them. They 
are also under great apprehensions of the danger of 
their condition, and that their evil course will prove 
fatal. When the w r orst of men have any thoughts oi 
returning to God, though they find all cause to des- 
pair with respect to themselves, yet they are apt Uj 

'onceive snome good bopes of God's grace and merer, , 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. I6& 

His boundless compassion is apt to kindle some sparks 
of hope, even in the most desponding. But what must 
we think of a system which supposes the divine Being 
speaking thus to his human creatures, "Look uponme 
as the chief good ; but know, that I neither am nor 
shall be such to thee. Hunger and thirst after me ; 
but only to be for ever disappointed. Seek me above 
all things ; but seek me in vain, never to be found. " 
Surely he does not know God, who imagines such 
things to be worthy of him. Language which minces 
matters, and can suppose God capable of saying — " I 
command thee to seek me above all things, but have 
predetermined to withhold from thee that grace, without 
which thou canst not find. 1 have commanded thee to 
repent, and believe, and obey ; but all in direct con^ 
trariety to a necessity, impelling thee irresistibly to 
disobedience." 

To suppose for a moment, that God can be the irre- 
sistible contriver of his creatures 5 ruin, is a glaring in- 
consistency, because incompatible with his holiness. 
To justify such a conduct, requires the acquittal of the 
contriving cause, and the condemnation of the medium^ 
which is so weak as not to be able to resist an irresis- 
tible energy. The " Institutes" aver that " Reprc* 
bates, in sinning, would be thought excusable, because 
they cannot prevent the necessity of it, especially when 
such necessity is cast upon them by the ordination of 
God ; but we deny that they are thence rightly ex~ 
cused." Next to the belief of a God, and his provi- 
dence, there is nothing more fundamentally necessary, 
than the conviction, that God is not the author of sin, 
and that every man must blame himself for the evil 
which he does. They forbid all appeal to our ra- 
tional faculties, relatively to the connexion of the 
moral government of God, with his adorable attributes ; 
when he himself has so often appealed to the same test 
in his word. For instance, in allusion to the equity of 
his commands, he expostulated — "O! my people, 
what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I 
wearied thee ? Testify against me." When he allow- 
ed Abraham to reason with him concerning Sodom, the 

15 



f 70 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

language of the patriarch was — " That be far from thet 
ro slav the righteous with the wicked : shall not the 

fudge of all the earth do right ?" God admitted of the 
application, and allowed him to plead to a great extent 
When God addresses the house of Israel, his language 
is, " Are not my ways equal ? Are not your ways une 
qual V Under these high authorities we say, that 

4 Righteousness and judgment are the habitation o\ 
his seat." 

How men who acknowledge that God has been mer- 
ciful to them, can place others in a situation in which 
they are only prepared for the sin and punishment 
to which they are decreed, is very strange. Sal- 
vation is offered to those reprobates ; but they say " it 
is only to delude them." The voice of mercy sound" 
in their ears, with the treacherous intention to tantalize 
them. A gracious God invites, beseeches, and begs oi 
them to partake of all the joys of grace and glory ; but 
it is only to thrust them deeper into the pit for re 
fusing; which was unavoidable. How long will men 
represent the sincerity of God as mockery ; his truth 
us falsehood ; and his compassion as cruelty ? If God 

tad laid the train, and set the snare, it would be cruel 
m the same person, first to tempt, and then to punish. 
For as nothing is more contrary to the holiness of God. 
than to tempt men to sin ; so nothing could be more 
contrary to justice, than first to draw men into sin, and 
then to chastise them for it. 

A system which makes God the contriver of sin, can 
not, by any means, harmonize with sound and sober 
reason. It contradicts the equitable plan of man's 
dealing with man, and the rules of mutual justice. It 
derogates in a hi^h degree from the honour due to 
God's name and attributes ; and ascribes to the Almighty 
the base names oi tyranny, cruelty, injustice, insin- 
cerity, and delight in human misery. If, on the other 
hand, every man's fault be justly chargeable on himself, 
there can be no treacherous decree which binds him 
inevitably to the commission of that fault. This is #ie 
only and proper foundation on which men can be 



ELECTION ANB REPROBATION*. Ill 

guilty ; so that when thej have done amiss , they must 
be conscious it was their own act, and that they might 
have done otherwise, if they had rightly employed the 
power which God afforded to them. Guilt, in the true 
and proper sense of the word, is men's own desert, and 
which being wilfully contracted, make3 men liable to 
punishment. 

God's plan of dealing with his human creatures, when 
in circumstances of difficulty, amounting to a sore trial 
is, to proportion their strength to resist and overcome, 
to the weight of the trial. Herein the security of the 
truly pious consists. The most steadfast would be in 
danger, if the providence of God did not watch over 
them, A temptation may so beset the best of men, or 
surprise them at such advantage, as no ordinary degree 
of grace may be able to resist; but when men are truly 
sincere, looking to God for direction and protection, his 
providence wards off those fierce attacks ; puts by 
those violent thrusts or fiery darts of the enemy ; and 
by a gracious disposal of things, keeps them from being 
assaulted above what they are able to bear. This 
must be a great argument for continual dependence 
upon God, and to abate our confidence in ourselves* 
knowing that the most confident has need to be on his 
guard, and to take heed lest he fall. 

There are several persons to whom those decrees 
and their dreadful connexions are not known in their 
full extent, and who, if they knew them, would hardly 
endure them. It is very rarely that they hear the 
secret, everlasting, irreversible decree, preached from 
the pulpit. The system, instead of carrying its former 
harshness on the front, is in a good measure softened 
down to the moderation, which increasing light re- 
quires. Revelation informs us, that though all men 
may not be favoured with the same peculiar blessings, 
yet they are all chosen, and called to be righteous. 
Hence Peter says, that " In every nation, he thatfear- 
eth God and worketh righteousness, is accepted of 
him." It was a deeply rooted opinion among the Jews 
or former elect, that God would never extend his fa- 
vour to the Gentiles, who were esteemed to be repro 



172 ELECTION AND REPROBATION*. 

bates, and that the descendants of Jacob only, shouk 
enjoy his peculiar favour. Peter, on his visiting Cor- 
nelius, was convinced that " God was no respecter of 
persons ;" and that, as all must be judged according to 
the deeds done in the body, so no nation, or people, or 
individual, could expect to find a more favourable de 
cision than another, in precisely the same moral state 
The phrase " respect of persons," is used in referencf 
to unjust decisions in a court of justice, where, through 
favour, or interest, or bribe, a culprit is acquitted, or 
an innocent person condemned. On this ground, God 
ould not receive to favour a Jew, who had either 
.ibused his grace, or made a less godly use of it than a. 
Gentile. Nor was this the case with Cornelius only, 
but with the Gentiles of every nation. The great 
standard with Gentiles particularly, is, " He that fear- 
eth God and worketh righteousness," according to hi« 
light and privileges, " is accepted of him." It is not,, 
therefore, so much the nation, kindred, profession, 
mode, or form of worship, which the just God regards , 
but chiefly the moral character, the state of the heart 
and deportment of the life. 

The apostle Paul speaks of some Gentiles, who not 
having the law of Moses or of Christ, nevertheless do 
by nature (in its state of initial restoration through the 
seed of life given to Adam in the promise,) the things 
contained in the law, being a law to themselves, and 
showing the work of the law written upon their hearts. 
Therefore, though a Gentile may be reprobated from 
the blessings peculiar to Judaism and Christianity, there 
is no inevitable decree which reprobates him from all 
saving grace, and necessarily involves the greater part 
of mankind in unavoidable damnation. 

But it may be asked, " If there be no dark decree 
why is such a term made use of in Scripture ?" Ans. 
The dark mansion of decrees has been raised, not by 
Scripture, but by the metaphysical notions of some di- 
vines. The word " decree" was called into answer 
some purpose to which the word a predestination" does 
not extend. Predestination, which is Scriptural, has 
not been found sufficient to support " the system of the 






ELECTION AND HEPROBATIOK. 173 

decrees.'' This word supposes the persons to be con- 
templated of whom it is affirmed. The word "chosen'' 
does not answer to any thing in Scripture applicable to 
the present subject. Accordingly, the word " decree'* 
is taken up, although not used any where in Scripture 
in the sense thus imposed on it. In the Old Testament, 
the word " decree" signifies a commandment or statute. 
In Isaiah viii. l,the prophet is commanded to take a 
great " roll" or decree, alluding to the paper or parch- 
ment on which the command was written, In Acts 
xvi. 4, Paul and Timothy delivered the " decrees" or 
written institutes of the apostles and elders, who were 
at Jerusalem. In Acts xvii. 7, we read of the " de- 
crees" of Caesar, as brought against Paul and Silas, \>y 
persecutors, who would falsely charge them with sedi- 
tion. The word " decree" here, has nothing to do 
with the absolute and inevitable scheme, 

If any man's conduct were irreversible, how can we 
possibly suppose the author of the decree to be serious 
in his exhortations to repentance, his expectations oi 
it, and his grief for the impenitency of sinners ? God 
exhorts to repentance, and expects it ; because, by his 
grace, men may repent, if they but coincide with the 
divine will, which they have power to do. He is said 
to grieve for their impenitency, because they might and 
ought to do otherwise, but would not. To attain this 
important end, all things are ready. We, by our ob- 
duracy, however, may render them vain, and of no 
effect. Hence the expressive language of vi I have 
called, but ye have refused." Hence also " They be 
gan with one accord to make excuse." 

The great discovery of the Gospel is, c; That Ge*i 
was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. 55 Qu 
this solid basis, he has established the hopes of men: 
We are not left to dubious conjecture or intricate rea- 
soning, concerning the conduct which God evinces to- 
wards his human creatures. Man, though oppressed 
and dejected, by a deep sense of the guilt of sin, and 
its dreadful consequences, is allowed to look, with aj, 
astonished eve, to the gracious signals of divine me rev 



J 74 ELECTION AND REPROBATION* 

which are too conspicuous to be either distrusted or 
mistaken. 

But has not the word " predestination," wherever it 
occurs, an influence on the reader's mind, unfriendly to 
freedom ? Ans. It may, by being first unguardedly con- 
sidered as meaning a dark decree, just as our Saviour 
himself, by the purple robes, was transformed into 
another character. This word is often employed in the 
kindest service. Ephe9. i. 5, speaks of the " Father 
having predestinated them, (the Ephesians, who before 
were Gentiles) to the adoption of children by Jesus 
Christ to himself." Here the apostle shows that the 
Gentiles were called to be Christians, without passing 
through the rites of the law. Nothing could so effec- 
tually support this sentiment, as the resting it on the 
divine purpose, entertained before the giving of the 
law, and even before the foundation of the world. 

To taste how gracious the Lord is, all indiscriminate 
ly are made welcome. The frequenters of highway i- 
and hedges, and streets and lanes, are freely invited to 
'his most liberal banquet. Jews and Gentiles, Barba- 
rians and Scythians, bond and free, may accept of the 
jffer. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, the dwellers in 
Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phry 
<*ia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Cretes, and Arabians, may 
hear in their own languages the things which be 
long to their peace. The poor, the maimed, the hall 
the blind, are among the persons invited. If on the 
other hand, men be fast bound, hand and foot, so that 
:hey cannot move or stir, it is but mockery and insult 
to urge them to an utter impossibility, and cruelty to 
punish them for not coming. 

But it may be replied, 4t If man be not under an in- 
evitable decree ; the Gospel cannot ensure salvation tc 
any." Ans. This is a great mistake ; for instance, the 
gospel ensures salvation to that numerous part of man- 
kind, which dies in infancy. We assert, therefore > 
with our Lord, that " of such infants is the kingdom oi 
heaven," who consequently must have some capacity 
*o enjoy it. 



ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 175 

It may be asked here, how an inevitable decree can 
be injurious to men ? Ans. It must produce a world 
of mischief, making all the sins of all the men in the 
world, at all periods, and in all ages, absolutely inevita- 
ble. Besides this, it must be cruel to make them ac- 
countable and punishable for what they could no more 
help than they can prevent the revolution of the hea- 
venly bodies. This must appear to every candid con* 
templator, to be a system which he could by no means 
ascribe to a just and holy God. The Calvinistic doc- 
trine of absolute decrees, and the inevitable fate of the 
ancient Stoics are the same. The only difference is. 
that the professors of absolute predestination, bring in 
a divine decree, while the Stoics make their chain de- 
pend upon the immutable nature of things, and bind 
even the Deity himself with it. But to mankind in 
general, the effects are precisely the same. Men com- 
mit crimes upon the scheme of the decrees, because 
God has decreed that it should be so, and upon the 
system of the Stoics, because they were an essentia! 
part of a plan of eternal causes and effects. 

Where V rejection" is spoken of, it means the rejec 
tion of the Jews in general as a nation, from being God's 
peculiar people, and not the rejection of any indi- 
vidual ; for many thousands of them had embraced the 
Christian faith, and died in its noble army of martyrs. 
The apostle puts this into a very fair light, Rom. ix. 1. 
2. "I say the truth in Christ; I lie not; my con- 
science bears me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have 
great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart." The 
cause of this was, the rejection of the Jews as a na* 
tion, because they had rejected Christ. Instead of 
speaking of all " reprobates" indiscriminately, the apos 
tie tells us it was '* for his countrymen the Jews" that 
he felt all this concern. He adds, " I could wish my- 
self accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen 
according to the flesh." Now, that the apostle could 
not mean eternal reprobation or damnation, must be ad- 
mitted. But if we apply it to an alienation from Chris- 
tian communion, consistent with circumstances which 
juight admit of excuse in point of ignorance, the apos* 



170 ELECTION AND REPROBATION. 

tie might perhaps have allowed his vehement emotion 
to carry him thus far. 

So far is God from forwarding siD, lo fulfil any decree, 
that he prevents it by all ways and means that do not 
infringe upon our liberty. When intending to do evil, 
we often feel something like the joint influence of law. 
duty, grace, and conscience, thrown into the opposite 
scale, furnishing us with help to resist temptation. 
When sin is inwardly intended, he prevents its advan- 
cing to the outward act, as he prevented the men oi 
Sodom from injuring Lot : Pharaoh from drowning the 
Israelites : Balaam from cursing Israel : Jeroboam from 
injuring the prophet, and Herod from destroying the 
infant Jesus. When it is ventured on, Providence sets 
bounds to it. Joseph's brethren intended to kill him — 
Uaman to hang Mordecai — Satan to destroy Job — Jeze- 
fcel to destroy one hundred prophets. And even when il 
is committed, God uses means to bring sinners to repent 
ance and pardon, as Joseph's brethren, and the prodiga' 
800. 

When a system is embraced, men are very apt to 
adopt it wholesale. A divine of no small celebrity (Dr 
rwiss) not venturing to call the doctrine by its true 
name of M unconditional predestination," softens it 
down to the "efficacious will of God." And if this be 
not expressive enough, he tells us, " it is impossible 
that any thing should be done but that to which God 
impells the will of man." And to give but one more 
quotation, but enough for any temperate reader, " Gou 
is the author of all that action which is sinful, by hi^ 
irresistible will." This is the inevitable decree, when 
stripped of the false dress and colours, which some put 
upon it, for fear of startling the young, or frightening 
the weak. 

There is a divine harmony in the sacred writings, 
which the doctrine of absolute predestination, if once 
admitted 9 will render altogether discordant. They ad- 
vise, that supplications for averting evils, prayers for 
obtaining good things, affectionate intercessions in be 
half of others : and giving of thanks to God as the great 
parent of all good, be offered in behalf of all men. M 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST, 177 

God wills the salvation of all, he therefore wills that 
all should be prayed for ; this being good and accepta- 
ble to God our Saviour, who would have all men to be 
saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. In 
the face of such a plain declaration, it is surprising how 
a Christian should harbour the unfriendly thought, that 
God has unconditionally reprobated any man or num- 
ber of men, merely to show his sovereign right and 
power, to the great disparagement of his justice and 
goodness. Peter Martyr, who thought the honour of 
God at stake, if his right to decree unconditionally 
were in the least infringed on, makes the following de- 
claration, which every mind, seasoned with the gra- 
cious doctrines of the Gospel must shudder at, namely, 
that " God supplies wicked men with opportunities of 
committing sin, and inclines their hearts to it." And 
if this sentiment be not tinged deeply enough with the 
unconditional doctrine, he goes the full length when he 
assures us, that God " blinds, deceives, and seduces 
them." He does not mean that God affords opportu- 
nities of probation or trial, which may be applied either 
way, but " He by working on their hearts, binds and 
stirs them up to do evil." This is plain speaking. 

Now, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world 
unto himself; that Christ gave himself a ransom for all 
men ; that he was the light which lighteth every man 
coming into the world ; the propitiation for our sins, and 
not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world ; 
whose gospel was sent forth to all the world, and to be 
preached to every creature ; I shall endeavour to show 
from plain and positive testimony of the divine word, 
repeatedly delivered on all occasions, where the re= 
demption that is in Christ Jesus is treated of. 

OF GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST, 

Where reason and candour go hand in hand, in 
searching, weighing, and applying the divine oracles^ 
they must acknowledge that so far is God from emploj r « 
ing unconditional election and reprobation, to the pre- 
judice of any, that wisdom and goodness appear as the 



178 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 

most prominent features of his conduct, in all his (lis 
pensations towards Heathens, Jews, and Christians 
This must be seen, particularly by every observer, wh< 
directs his attention to the light of the glory of God in 
the face of Jesus Christ. Through the gospel medium, 
he sees the great victim, as the lamb slain from the 
foundation of the world. As this reconciliation required 
a sacrifice on the side of the peace-maker, Christ om 
divine advocate, gave himself a ransom for all men ; 
paying down such a price as procured their redemption. 
This comprehends a deliverance from the power and 
punishment of sin, as well as from the slavery and 
misery of sinners. 

To know God, is not only a duty most incumbent, 
but a privilege of immense magnitude. He is the 
sum and substance of all perfection, comprehending all 
that is excellent and desirable to be known. It is no 
small delight to know the creatures scattered up and 
down in the world, which are but some faint shadows of 
the divine perfection. But in God himself, all pcrfec 
lions are combined ; all that is beautiful and bright, and 
amiable and excellent. To know God in his nature 
and perfections, as far as mortals can know him here, 
is desirable : so likewise to know him in those glorious 
manifestations of himself, in his works of creation and 
providence. But how must the afFections be warmed, 
the wonder raised, and the mind pleased and astonished 
at the inestimable love of God, which appears in the 
stupendous work of redemption, which was such a 
divine mystery, that the angels are said to pry into it : 
struck with astonishment at the great plan, and justly 
wondering at the incarnation of that infinite object of 
their adoration. If these things be matters of deep 
consideration to the angels of God, how much more so 
should they be to every one of us, who are so deeply 
interested in them ? Instead of restricting our belief 
of the redemption through Christ, to any peculiar 
number predestinated, or to suppose that hi3 salvation 
is not intended for all, to whom it is offered ; we have 
the strongest reasons, and the clearest proofs that the 
satisfaction of Christ comprehended all mankind. 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 179 

God is not only an all-sufficient good, but perfect 
goodness itself. He is willing to communicate happi- 
ness to us, and to employ his power, and wisdom, and 
mercy for our good. His will is, that we should be 
happy : and nothing can hinder us from being so but 
ourselves. Such is his goodness, that he would have 
all men to be happy. Even when we have provoked 
him by our sins, he is long-suffering to usward, not 
willing that any should perish. So great is his good* 
'less to mankind, that he has omitted nothing that is 
necessary to our happiness. He designed us for it at 
iirst, affording us capacities for knowing, loving, and 
enjoying him for ever. And when this was forfeited 
by wilful transgression, God, of his infinite mercy, was 
pleased to restore us to a new capacity of happiness, 
by sending his only Son to suffer in our stead ; and 
thereby to become the author of our eternal salvation, 
If those gracious manifestations of God be chargeable 
vvith the epithets of " Absurdities of Methodism, 55 the 
unprejudiced reader will determine. 

One of the plainest truths in the Bible is, that God 
has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather, 
that " all would return, repent, and live" By the 
vivifying influence of grace, the strong propensity to 
evil, which is inherent in us, is restrained and counter- 
balanced. By the light which lighteth every man 
coming into the world, we know the day of our visita- 
tion, and the things belonging to our peace. We are 
excited by internal admonitions, and external calls, to 
resist our evil propensities, and to follow the leading? 
of divine grace, with all due dependence on God, 
This subject, instead of being covered with clouds and 
darkness, is as luminous as the region from which it 
has descended. Seen in its true colours, it is peculiarly 
calculated to raise the affections of man to love and 
gratitude; to form his heart to all inward piety, and his 
life and conduct to all outward order. So far from 
hiding its requisitions in darkness and reserve, it 
teaches its willing votaries, that to repent, believe, 
and obey, are the gracious conditions required, for 
xvhich, all necessary assistance and encouragement shall 



180 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 

be afforded by the hand that supplies every reasonable 
want. 

The gospel plan teaches us to entertain the most 
pure and exalted conceptions of God, who is styled by 
way of endearment, our Heavenly Father. He is the 
righteous governor of the world ; the standard of all 
purity and perfection ; the author and giver of every 
good and perfect gift ; conducting his whole adminis 
tration, with an eternal regard to truth and equity, and 
applying in this direction, his almighty power, unerring 
wisdom, and unimpeachable goodness. In some views, 
the divine nature commands our most solemn reve- 
rence ; in others, attracts our warmest affection ; but 
in every possible manifestation, it is entitled to the 
highest attention of the human mind. We never make 
the attempt to lift the soul to God, in the way of grati- 
tude and duty, without being truly profited and im 
proved, both in sentiment and practice. Should his 
Almighty power, his infinite wisdom, his strict justice, 
and unspotted holiness oppress our thoughts : we art- 
sure to find relief in his mercy and goodness. Under 
-this impression, instead of entertaining any apprehen- 
sions of secret treachery, in train to ensnare us, we 
cannot help paying our tribute of grateful acknowledge 
ment to him, whose perfections are uniformly employ 
ed in doing us all sorts of good. 

The very name which our great Deliverer assumed, 
and the intention attached to it, must inspire joy and 
confidence into the mind, when about to be seized by 
any uneasy apprehension respecting the universality 
of his redemption. This name was Jesus, as purport- 
ing to save his people from their sins. He can save 
from the guilt of sins, by a full and free pardon of all, 
though innumerable to us, and deserving the appella- 
tion of scarlet or crimson, for their daring atrocity. 
He can save from its tyrannic power, by the superior 
energies of divine grace. He can save from its nature, 
by renewing in righteousness the new creature. He en- 
ables us to love God with all the heart in sincerity, with 
the soul affectionately ; with the mind rationally ; and 
with the strength energetically : all the capacities being 



GENERAL REDEMPTION Itt CHRIST. 18 I 

united and engaged, in this good work of the Lord. Is 
this view of the interest which we have in Jesus, a 
hasty production, betraying want of patience or tem- 
per ? Is this credible to the genuine Christian, oris it 
an absurdity deserving the name of enthusiasm, and 
the blind lashes of sarcasm and censure ? 

The consciousness that we are under the govern- 
ment of a Being whose administration is uniform, whose 
promises are sincere, holding out ho false lights, but 
worthy of our most steadfast reliance, must furnish the 
simple and upright mind with sure grounds of trust 
and security, and establish the pleasing conviction that 
his favour is our highest interest here, and our ever- 
lasting reward hereafter. The very name of the his- 
tory of our redemption, carries with it a confutation of 
all contracted theories. The gospel of Jesus Christ, in 
its plain meaning, signifies good news. Health to the 
sick, strength to the weak, deliverance to the captive, 
and the opening of the prison doors to them that are 
bound, are but comparisons of spiritual and everlasting 
joys, announced through the medium of the gospel. 
Now, what must be one's feelings, if it should be de- 
clared to him, that under the open, generous will, which 
was so lavish and diffuse in the offer of its benefactions 
to all, indiscriminately, there were another secret will, 
excluding the greater number, perhaps all the hearers, 
from accepting of it, and that the call, although made 
on every individual, and in such a manner as implied 
him to be personally contemplated, was nevertheless 
connected with the existence of a certain secret some- 
thing, the want of which would render the call ineffec- 
tual. What shall we think of the persons who can, not 
only believe, but repeatedly teach, and even publish, 
that this is the double plan on which the Apostles of 
Christ preached the Gospel to every creature ? 

Nothing can be more absurd than to couple an open 
invitation with secret exceptions and reserves. If 
men, invited to the feast of the Gospel, have reason to 
suspect that all this is hut a shasi, or even worse, a 
snare, and that they, by some irresistible delusion, are 
prevented from accepting of the offer, however conve 

16 



182 GENUAL REDEMPTION KV CHRIST, 

nient and necessary it may be to their condition, their 
ideas of such an economy cannot be the most liberal. 
That God was in Christ reconciling the world to him- 
self, and that in his name the fairest and most unre- 
served offers of sal ? at ion were made to all, were doc- 
trines uniformly taught in the Christian Church, in the 
days of the apostles, and continued to be taught until 
early in the fifth century. 

If there be weight in any authorities that may be pro- 
duced, it must appear consistent that the parts of Scrip- 
ture which may appear somewhat obscure, should be 
explained by those which are more explicit. For it 
will appear in a considerable part of the texts to be 
brought forward in evidence of the universality of re- 
demption ; that it is the Yery truth intended to be taught 
in them ; and that without it, the words have no mean 
ing. So far are they from conveying the sentiment 
merely by implication, that the plainness of the decla- 
ration most arrest the candid eye at first view. Tho.H 
Scriptures are \cry express in bringing the whole 
human race under the influence of divine grace, and 
within the reach of salvation. While they discover the 
mistakes and moral evHs of man, and at the same time 
lament them, they nevertheless point the fugitive to a 
door of hope, and a city of refuge. They never lose 
sight of the possibility, as well as the necessity of gain- 
ing this great end. Their arguments, if attentively lis- 
tened to, are sufficiently persuasive to overcome all 
opposition, and control all prejudice. They state- 
that repentance and remission of sins should be 
preached to all men — that God has concluded all 
men under sin, in order to show mercy to all, the 
redemption of Christ being as extensive as the disobe- 
dience of Adam — that as the transgression was in 
the one case, so is the free gift in the other — that as we 
have one God as the great supreme object of worship 
and obedience, so we have one Mediator between God 
and man, that is, all mankind — that when he would be 
lifted up on the cross, «he would draw all men to him — 
that even the angels announced tidings of great joy to 
aH people. Surely there is no room here, to pass the 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 18-3 

comfortless sentence, and say that this general offer is 
only a " Scriptural absurdity of Methodism," and not 
warrantable, as not connected with and emanating from 
the secret decree. But surely Mr. P. himself must be 
obliged to allow, that this is not so much a conclusion 
drawn from Scripture, as Scripture itself. The im- 
pression which the whole of those scriptures conjoint- 
ly, must make upon the partial scheme, which makes 
every relation capable of a draw-back, must show on 
what a sandy foundation it is built. The person who 
condradicts the assertion of angels, that " they bring 
good news to all people," must act an unjustifiable part 
against the whole system of the Christian Religion. 

Where the Saviour commissions his heralds to preach 
the Gospel to every creature, he comprehends all and 
each. Now this would be unworthy of the commission 
unless all to whom it was to be preached, were inte- 
rested in it. Besides, it is well known to many, that 
the term *' preaching" is but a faint expression of the 
original word, which might be more properly translated 
£: publishing," or u proclaiming." There may, how- 
ever, be propriety in remarking, that it is no violence 
to language to admit, what the truth of the case re- 
quires, that by proclaiming to all the world, is not 
meant that all mankind had heard the sound of the 
gospel. It is sufficient, that to all who were within the 
reach of the sound, the gospel was proclaimed ; and for 
their benefit. But why should it be published to all ? 
It concerns all : it is published as good news to all — as 
tidings of salvation to all. It is a common rule in in- 
terpreting the writings of men, that the more general 
character of the composition is to be sustained. This 
rule seems reasonable ; and if applied to the present 
subject, must quash all controversy ; because there 
cannot be any property of any writing more explicitly 
declared, than that of grace to mankind by the Gospel. 

When we speak of God, we mean all that is great, 
and wise, and holy, and just, and good : influenced by no 
power ; affected by no accident; Impaired by no time. 
We cannot but perceive that he is not only good, but 
diffusing streams of goodness to ail the creatures under 
his administration. Those footsteps of goodness arc 



i 84 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST 

fruitful of instruction to man, who sees nothing over' 
looked in the whole range of existence. The soul oi 
man is as much the object of divine attention as the 
body ; and while provision is made for the one, in 
temporals, the other is supported in its hopes and 
consolations by the grace of God, which is mani- 
fested by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
whose sacrifice is of universal extent and applica 
tion. Those scriptures which unequivocally declare 
those glad tidings, will be urged with all modest confi- 
dence, as the proper means of bringing the controversy 
to an issue, because of the positive terms in which tin 
Calvinistic doctrine declares, that whenever the term 
" all" occurs, it means but few, or hardly any. 

How an unprejudiced person can read the mostposi 
live declarations repeatedly made, embracing all mei; 
without exception, whom a God of truth would have to 
be saved ; for whom prayers are to plead in a most 
special manner ; being still further encouraged by the 
pleadings of an all-powerful Mediator, who even gave 
himself a ransom for all, and yet continue under the 
dark influence of an ante-mundane decree, is difficult ot 
comprehension to a mind which takes the truth of in- 
spiration according to the plain and obvious statement 
of facts and doctrines. Surely our Saviour was swayed 
by no dark decree, when he declared — " The bread 
that I will give is my flesh, which 1 will give for the 
life of the world." St. Paul speaks of the Saviour, 
' Who gave himself a ransom for all." St. John says. 
{ He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours 
only, but for the sins of the whole world." St. Petei 
describes certain heretical teachers as " denying thr 
Lord that bought them," and yet on account of this ; 
' bringing on themselves swift destruction." Accord- 
ing to Mr. P. by " all the world," and " all men," ant 
; every man," must be meant *■ a select few." And 
they who are said (in reality) to have been bought by 
the Lord, and yet to have perished, are said to have 
been of this number, because they bore the same ap 
pearance with others who were of the number of the 
faithful. Now if this be reason, analogy, or just deduc 
ton, the reader will judge. 



GENERAL REDEMPTION tl< CHRIST. 1 80 

After proofs and reasons so plain and strong, can a 
reader be found, who will aver that the comprehensive 
word " All," as often as it occurs, must be so stinted 
and reduced in its dimensions, as to mean only a few, 
to the utter exclusion of the great remainder of the 
human race ? Whenever the great Author of our faith 
addressed his numerous auditories, he offered to the 
general concourse the terms of eternal life, without the 
exception of any. Even their bodily wants drew from 
his very great sympathy, not only a plentiful supply 
for thousands, but a very great surplus also. " And if 
his bowels yearned to see the people hungry, in a 
place where no bread could be procured, how much 
more solicitous is he to bestow upon the souls of men 
the bread which endures to everlasting life ? Titus 
ii. 1 1, makes divine provision for all men universally. 
The exact order of the Greek dictates the following 
order to the English — " There has appeared the grace 
of God, bringing salvation unto all men." Some ren- 
der this "all sorts of men," instead of "all men.' 4 
Beza, the successor of Calvin in the professorship of 
Geneva^ has done justice to this text in his Latin trans- 
lation, making his version conformable to the Greek, 
and to the Vulgate. To destroy the plain sense of thi- 
te^t^ they say that the Apostle had been delivering in- 
structions to servants just before ; which is thought to 
favour the construction " all sorts of men." But to 
allow ground for this interpretation, it would be neces- 
sary for them to show that the salvation of servants 
was ever deemed an impossibility ; or that putting ser- 
vants on a level with their masters in the concerns of 
salvation, was a peculiarity of the Christian dispensa- 
tion. 

If the attentive eye be carried for a moment to the 
Gospel scheme, it cannot but see the divine mercy car 
ried to the greatest extent, and forming the broadest 
basis for the hopes of true penitence. If it trace it to 
its source, it must assign as its moving cause, the love 
ef God, 44 who would have all men to be saved." While 
this doctrine has the constant seal of Scripture, it has 
aUhc same time a peculiar claim to our warmest gra* 
16* 



i86 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 

titude, excited to an admiration of those moral atlri 
butes of the just and holy Governor of the world, which 
have manifested to human view so distinguished a model 
of love and good will. 

It would be difficult to devise words whereby Uni- 
versal Redemption could be expressed more clearly 
than in 2 Cor. v. 19, in which the apostle plainly and 
unequivocally states, that " God was in Christ reconci 
ling the world unto himself." Surely, the apostle could 
not express himself more clearly, on this great and 
momentous subject. As this must appear to every un- 
prejudiced reader to be the matter intended as well as- 
expressed, the obvious interpretation should be allowed 
to prevail, and no artificial use be made of cramping 
irons to twist and screw the passage from its original 
intention. 

Can any thing express General Redemption mon 
explicitly than the pointed parallel drawn by St. Paul 
between the death of all men in Adam, and the revivi- 
fication of all in Christ ? The apostle tells us, that M hi 
Adam all die." If spiritual death be the thing intend- 
ed, no human ingenuity can rescue the other clause. 
:i So in Christ shall all be made alive." Or, if we un- 
derstand death to be the loss of immortality, to which 
we shall be restored by Christ in the resurrection 
the passage is equally easy in itself, and agreeable to 
the general tenor of holy writ. But to justify this, it is 
necessary to admit of the universality of the benefit 
bestowed. 

All the doctrines peculiar to the gospel, witness the 
hand of a good God, in a high degree, making known a 
dispensation of providence, suited to the exigencies of 
man, and recovering him from the corrupted state into 
which he had awfully fallen, to a state of reconciliation 
with God, and of divine consolation through Jesus 
Christ, which must overflow the soul, and fill it with 
a joy unspeakable and full of glory. To this great 
and precious privilege, all without distinction are wel 
come and invited. Though the Jews looked on the 
Gentiles as aliens from the commonwealth of Israel ; 
and strangers to the covenant of promise, yet the apos 



GENEKAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 187 

tie Peter, who seems to have been greatly inclined to 
that system, had to acknowledge that God was willing to 
adopt those reprobate Gentiles into the family of his 
church. In Acts xv. 8, he says, <fc God, who knowetb 
the heart, bare them (the Gentiles) witness, giving them 
the Holy Ghost even as unto us." What he under- 
stood by " giving them the Holy Ghost," is evident in 
the transaction with Cornelius, recorded in chap, x, 
If the assertion of the apostle Paul be true, 2 Cor. v. 
14, " We thus judge, that if one died for all, then were 
all dead," so must the premisses also, namely, that 
Christ did die for all. The meaning is still more firmly 
established by what follows' — " And that he died for all, 
that they which live should not henceforth live unto 
themselves, but unto him that died for them, and rose 
again." If Christ did not die for " all" in general, 
then all were not fallen in Adam. If the term "all 5 
be reduced to signify some, namely, the " elect," then 
only the elect must have fallen in Adam. The apostle, 
uses the word in its plain obvious meaning, without any 
distinction of elect or reprobates, but as signifying "all 
men." 

This great plan gives the most striking views of the 
mercy and goodness of God. The Son of God, who 
came on the heavenly design, passing by the nature of 
angels, and veiling his glory in human nature, endured 
the criminal and excruciating death due to "all sinners," 
for the express purpose of ransoming us from the death 
which we deserved to suffer. How sensibly must such 
a conduct as this* discover the generous friend ; meet 
and refute all objections ; seize the whole attention, 
and call forth the language of purest affection ! If 
• ; the free gift of God is come upon all men tojusli'ica- 
cation of life" were not enough, the apostle brings it in 
through every possible medium, even the most indirect. 
Thus, " And through thy knowledge shall thy weak- 
brother perish, for whom Christ died." If none can 
perish for whom Christ died, what can these word* 
mean ? Dr. Doddridge gives the following paraphrase 
— " And so shall the weak brother, for whom the Lord 
fesiis Christ himself died, be liable to perish by thy 



]88 GENERAL REDEMPTION IS CHRIST. 

knowledge, in this instance mischievous." What crux 
Mr. P. and his friends think of this " Absurd Metho- 
dism/' proceeding from a Calvinistic Divine of great 
reputation ? 

The free grace of God, as manifested through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, is not a mere system of speculative 
truths. By a gradation of high discoveries ; by a sue 
cession of interesting objects, which it places high 
in our view, it is calculated to encourage all who hear 
the joyful sound, to hope for mercy, and rely on the 
consolatory offer of eternal life held out for acceptance. 
It has a sanctifying influence also, encouraging and as 
Misting to elevate the mind, purify the affections, and 
establish the soul in all holy conversation and godliness. 
The more the mind of such a candid person survey- 
ihe plans of providence, the brighter the display be 
comes of the wisdom and goodness of God. Christ V 
death was a full and sufficient atonement for the sins of 
the whole world. The character of universality is almost 
always attached to this great sacrifice. This door of 
mercy is widely open, to afford an abundant entrance 
into the kingdoms of grace and glory. " God so loved 
the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that who- 
soever believeth in him might not perish, but have 
everlasting life." M God sent not his Son into the 
world to condemn the world, but that the world through 
him might be saved." Such a merciful and gracious 
interposition of God, in loving a fallen •* world," so as 
to send his only begotten Son, for the express purpose 
of its redemption, utterly removes all surmise or ap- 
prehension of any thing treacherous designed, or brew 
ing underneath. 

This infinite magnitude of divine love, comprises 
length, and breadth, and depth, and height. It passeth 
knowledge, and exceeds all calculation. What a most 
interesting object on which to fasten the contemplative 
eye, and the warmest hopes ! W T hen such an astonish- 
ing fact passes in review before such a contemplator. 
with what assurance can he say, *' He that spared not. 
his own Son, but freely gave him up for us alL how 
shall he not with him freely give us all things ?" W r here 



GENERAL REDEMPTION Ift CHRIST, 189 

it is stated, 1 Tim. ii. 4, " God our Saviour, who will 
have all men to fee saved, and to come to the knowledge 
of the truth," can we for a moment so wrest the gra- 
cious declaration as to force it to signify " all sorts oi 
men," or some of each sort? The apostle had just be- 
fore exhorted, " that supplications, prayers, interces- 
sions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men ;" and 
then it is specified for "kings and for all that are in 
authority." Therefore, the "all" whom God would 
have to be saved, and the " all" on account of whom 
the reason was given, are the u all" for whom we are 
to pray. And it will be allowed, that we are to pray 
for all men — rulers and subjects — saints and sinners. 
Dr. Doddridge rejects the Calvinistic interpretation of 
this text. " I must confess," (said he) " I have never 
been satisfied with that interpretation which explains all- 
men here by all ranks of men ; since I fear it might 
also be said, on the principles of those who are fond- 
est of this gloss, that he also wills ail men to be con- 
demned." 

A Scriptural view of the great doctrine of Universal 
Redemption strikes the mind with the most solemn reve- 
rence of the divine administration. The Redeemer 
had the prospect full before him of ail that he was 
about to suffer. An hour was fast approaching the 
most critical and the most trying — an hour more pregnant 
with great events, than any other since hours began to 
be numbered. While the divine government is placed 
in a light the most amiable and encouraging, there is, at 
the same time, something extremely awful in the inter- 
position of infinite mercy. Redemption, through the 
painful sufferings and atoning blood of the Son of God> 
must clearly point out some deep and dreadful malignity 
in the nature of sin, as weli as its consequences. Men 
in general, as the offspring of Adam, and as offenders 
against the divine law, in the character of free-agents, 
had fallen into this awful condemnation. To save them 
from this state, the sufferings of Christ were endured, 
it having pleased the righteous Judge of the world to 
depart from the ordinary course of his providence, in 
allowing the innocent to suffer for the guilty. A 



190 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST* 

method so astonishing must awaken mankind to the 
most serious reflections, pointing in the clearest man- 
ner to the sanctity of the divine law, and the strictness 
of the divine justice. What must we think an apostle 
can mean, short of this great and general intention, 
when he speaks of our Redeemer as one, who is the 
Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe . 
Why should this passage be bent to mean only a tempo* 
ral deliverer ? Men in general, when they have adopt- 
ed a system, are so fond of bending every thing to it. 
that they make it the test of right and wrong ; as if the 
sun were to be directed by the dial or the clock ; or 
the pole by the needle or compass. Deza grossly mis- 
represents the passage, as if the Greek word " Saviour'' 
were to be rendered by the word " preserver." Dr. 
Campbell, in his dissertation, prefixed to his transla- 
tion of the Gospels, although himself a Calvinist, se- 
verely censures Beza on account of the above, and 
other incorrect translations, calling him what Jerome 
had called Aquila, " a translator, who accommodates his 
version to his system." There can hardly be a severer 
censure on any man, than that which one Calvinistic 
divine here passes on another. Perhaps Mr. P. ma} 
call this " Calvinistic absurdity." 

If any thing can move the heart, it is the all-corn- 
manding principle of disinterested love. The sinner, 
struck with a view of what Christ has done and suffer- 
ed, as well as laid out on him, and laid up for him, 
yields to the softening influence. His first sentiments 
and language are self-accusation, and humble acknow- 
ledgment. From this he proceeds to entreaty, and 
gives an unrestrained vent to sighs and tears. The 
work is in high advance — it is done. The soul is per- 
suaded to yield. It embraces the terms of reconcilia 
tion, and acknowledges with gratitude that it has ob- 
tained the victory through the blood of the Lamb. 
Let an individual but conceive for a moment the Son 
of the Most High, terminating a life of important la- 
bours by a most painful death ; atoning, by his suffer- 
ings, for the guilt of mankind. Let but such a view be 
held up to the gazing eye, and the whole soul must pass 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST." 191 

under the softening influence of sympathetic tender- 
aess ; and being as it were " crucified with Christ,' 5 
this heavenly display will show its mysteries beyond 
the comprehension or discovery of man. That God 
should become man, to die for the offences of his crea- 
tures, is one of those things into which " angels de- 
sire to look." When the sacred writers describe the 
great mystery of Redemption, they show as plainly as 
language can express, that there was au efficacy in his 
sufferings comprehending no less than the reconcilia- 
tion of the human race to God. The full efficacy of 
this great sacrifice we are unable as yet to trace. We 
behold a part now, which is infinitely worthy of our ado- 
ration. A happy eternity shall progressively open 
still wider displays, continuing to unfold by fresh dis- 
coveries, the everlasting results of the death of Christ. 

The Old Testament plainly shows that a free salva= 
lion i3 left to the option of individuals. Moses admo- 
nished the children of Israel — " Behold, I set before 
you this day a blessing and a curse ; a blessing, if ye 
obey the commandments of the Lord your God ; and a 
curse, if ye will not." It ought not to be supposed of 
the divine Being, or indeed of any human being, not 
depraved below the ordinary standard, that such an 
offer should be indiscriminately made, yet clogged with 
secret reserves and exceptions. Through the medium 
of the Gospel, these offers become infinitely brighter, 
giving man an humble yet most important part to act in 
making his calling and election sure, under the in- 
fluence of the great Redemption. While God, the 
great Author and Finisher, is represented as giving tha 
increase, man is assured, that what he himself sows 
now, shall be reaped by him hereafter. The Gospel, 
in fact, omits nothing in showing us that we are under 
the moral government of God, and within the reach of 
his great salvation. 

To attain this important end, all things are now in 
train, and ready. The mercy of God is ready, who is 
not only rich in mercy, but the Father of mercies. The 
merits of Christ hold out the highest encouragement to 
sinners, while they inform them that he died for their 



194 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 

which he himself contrived, must be difficult to recon 
cile with candour or equity. 

A free and full salvation is constantly held forth, so 
as to strike the attention of every candid person. He 
cannot possibly see how the gracious advices given, and 
the earnest declarations made, can at all consist with 
any sentiment which for a moment would shut up the 
prospect of eternal life. That Christ came to save sin- 
ners, yea, the chief of sinners, is very evident. All 
references to that great transaction, speak not 
covertly, but openly and expressly, assuring us, that 
" by the grace of God he tasted death for every man" — 
that " the Son of man came to seek and to save that 
which is lost" — that a father has not a truer concern in 
the return of his prodigal son, than God has in the re- 
turn ofsinners — that " Christ is the Lamb of God taking 
away the sins of the world," God accepting his sacrifice 
for the sins of all mankind — that " he made peace by 
the blood of his cross, to reconcile all things unto him- 
self." He commanded his apostles to publish this, on 
the broadest scale, to all the world. " He is the light 
of the world," to enlighten all that are in the shadow of 
death, and to guide their feet in the ways of peace. 
He came " to save the world," with a present and an 
everlasting salvation. " It is a faithful saying, and worthy 
of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the 
world to save sinners." So far is God from contriving 
evil secretly, that " God would have all men to be 
saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 
Least sinners, under a deep conviction of their sinful- 
ness, should fly the divine presence, they are encou- 
raged by the declaration, " that there is a Mediator be- 
tween God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave 
himself a ransom for all." It was the language of a 
good old saint, k< Lord, now lettest thou thy servant de- 
part in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people." 
Hence he is said to be " salvation to the ends of the 
earth." He is also called the true light, enlightening 
erery man coming into the world. If such a mass of 
evidence be " absurdity," so be it. 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IK CHRIST. 195 

That the will of God is the salvation of all mankind, 
must appear from the sacred word, where it is express- 
ed in the plainest manner. Can any thing be more 
obvious than that '■' He died the just for the unjust ?" 
It is stated, that " He came into the world to save sin- 
ners," which was the character of men in general. 
" He redeemed us from the curse of the law, being 
made a curse for us," by dying in our stead. " While 
we were enemies, in due time Christ died" to procure 
reconciliation. " He bore our sins in his own body 
on the tree," to deliver us from everlasting punishment. 
" Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became 
poor, that we, through his poverty, might be rich " 
Now wherein an individual can claim acquaintance 
with the terms, lost — unjust — sinner — enemy — crimi- 
nal — under condemnation — under a curse, or poor i 
he can at the same time claim an interest in a Redeem- 
er, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is not 
only able to save those that come unto him, but willing 
also ; possessing all the qualifications of mercy and 
compassion, and being touched with a tender feeling of 
our infirmities. If to these be added texts of admoni- 
tion ; of exhortation ; of promise; and of threatening ; 
so numerous in the sacred word, how must they con- 
vince ? 

Calvin says, 4t When he (God) addresses the same 
word to the reprobates, though it produces not their 
correction, yet he makes it effectual for another pur- 
pose, that they may be confounded by the testimony of 
their consciences now, and be rendered more inexcu- 
sable at the day of judgment." But surely, instead of 
laying any foundation for just accusation on the score 
of having done, or left undone, according to the power 
lodged with them, the effect of the Calvinistic system 
must be to release from the pains of conscience ; such 
pains not possibly existing without a plain and direct 
conviction that the crimes might have been avoided ; or 
the duty have been performed. Now if a person can- 
not be angry with a blind man for not seeing, or with a 
deaf man for not hearing, or with a cripple for not run- 
ning, how can we ascribe such injustice to God, as to 



198 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST* 

I escape if I neglect this great salvation ? I will arise 
and go to my Father." On the contrary system ot 
reprobation, a person must be very uneasy and uncer- 
tain, He does not know that he is of the number of 
the elect. He may be a reprobate in his own conjec- 
tures. How dark, unco nfortable, and gloomy, such a 
state? 

General Redemption is the great fountain head of all 
God's dealings. He has reconciled us to himself by 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Our great Mediator is a Prince 
and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and re- 
mission of sins. Among the nations also are manifested 
the unsearchable riches cf Christ. H*e is the great 
solar light of the Gentiles. God commands all men 
every where to repent. All the ends of the earth may 
look to him and be saved. Whosoever will may take 
of the water of life freely. The Lord is not willing 
that any should perish. incline your ear : hear, and 
your soul shall live. Seek the Lord while he may be 
found. Let the wicked forsake his way. God will 
abundantly pardon. To the Gentiles I send thee, to 
open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to 
light — That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and 
an inheritance among them that are sanctified. Surely 
the cloud of Scripture evidence in favour of God's not 
being pleased that a sinner should perish, but find re- 
demption in the blood of the Lamb, is 30 large and lu 
minoas, that any admirer of secret unconditional de- 
crees, cannot raise dust enough to involve it in dark 
ness. It is true, they attempt to make an appeal to 
John x. 15 — " I lay down my life for the sheep." To 
this it may be answered, that his dying for some is no 
denial of his dying for all ; otherwise than it may be 
proved from Galatian3 ii. 20, that he died only for St. 
Paul ; who says — " I live by faith in the Son of God, 
who loved me, and gave himself for me. 5 ' 

The plain conviction that men in general are on the 
great plan of redemption must be an aggravation of 
their sin, if persisted in. To sin against light, and 
means, and obvious duty, involves the offender in great 
guilty as well as justly exposes him to great punishment 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST, 199 

To persist in sin where the hand of God evidently ap- 
pears concerned, is a high pitch of presumption. Thus 3 
when Christ sent forth his apostles, directing them not 
only to preach the Gospel, but to work miracles, he 
added, " if the city reject you, and your commission, 
it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in 
the day of judgment, than for that city." This cer- 
tainly means that the city alluded to must have had the 
means of salvation within its reach, but instead of ac 
cepting of the offer, that it treated it with open con- 
tempt. How strong the following ? " We pray you in 
Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God." The men 
(all of them) were bidden — Open thy mouth wide, and 
I will fill it — My people would not hearken to my 
voice-— Israel would none of me — I call heaven and 
earth to record, that 1 have set before thee life and 
death, ablessing and a curse— choose life that thou may- 
est live — Mary hath chosen the good part— Choose you 
this day whom ye will serve — As for me and my house, 
we will serve the Lord. Seeing that ye ( Jew r s) put away 
the Gospel, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal 
life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Can any thing be 
more evident from the concurrent testimony of Scrip- 
ture, than that Christ died for all ; that salvation is of- 
fered to all ; that the Scriptures invite all ; and that 
faith is required of all ? 

Even the circumstance of being within the covenant 
of grace, as members of his church, affords ground of 
presumption, in regard to all to whom the promises of 
it have been sealed by the divinely instituted ordinance 
which is the general introduction to it. How reason* 
able to infer that they are not admitted to the church 
militant upon earth, without the privilege which may 
be improved of being finally admitted to the church 
triumphant in heaven ? For how great a character is 
attributed in Scripture to the divinely instituted society 
of the faithful ! They are called the body, and the 
spouse of Christ, a chosen generation, a royal priest- 
hood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. It would be 
easy to multiply such evidences of the honour with 
which the church has been adorned by her divine 



202 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 

sin in future, and avoid the punishment due to the past, 
if there were no foundation for the entire conversion 
of such persons ? On any other supposition, how can 
preachers of all descriptions tell their hearers of a day 
of grace ? there is no such day to those who are sup- 
posed to be under the decree of reprobation. 

The Scriptures bring; the whole human race under 
the influence of divine grace, <*nc\ within the reach of 
a present and an everlasting salvation. They overcome 
all opposition, and subdue all prejudice. The tide of 
Scripture evidence in favour of general redemption is 
so strong, that it occasionally carried away even Augus- 
tine, Bishop of Hippo .nui the fimous author of the 
Institutes, notwithstanding their particular resistance. 
Augustine in his 59th sermon, ba< these words, " Man- 
kind is sick ; not with bodily diseases, but with sins. 
The huge patient lies all the worl over, stretched from 
East to West. To he;?) the huge patient, (Mankind,) the 
Omnipotent Physician descends from heaven." As for 
the author of the Institutes, in » happy moment, he does 
not scruple to say, that 4t God shows himself propitious 
to all the world, when he invites all men without ex- 
ception to believe in Christ : faith being the entrance 
into Christ. 1 ' Agreeably to this, when he comments 
ttpon those words of St. Paul ; '■' There is one Media- 
tor between God and man, the man Christ, '' he ob- 
serves, " since therefore Christ is willing, that the be- 
nefit of his death shonlri be common to nil men, they do 
him an injury, who by their opinion, debar any one 
from the hope of salvation." Universality of redemp- 
tion, is the constant topic of Scripture : It is rendered 
partial, only under limitations, which are the fruit of 
refined reasonings and minute distinctions. It is a ma- 
terial objection agninstthose rramping interpreters, that 
they represent the divine word, *s expressed very in- 
cautiously on a point, in which all men have the greatest 
Interest. 

How an unprejudiced person can read a declaration , 
expressed in the most genera! terms, and embracing all 
men without exception; whom God would have to be saved 
and to come to the knowledge of the truth j for whose 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 203 

conversion all sorts of means are used, most likely to 
answer this great end ; for whose salvation the warmest 
supplications are offered at the throne of grace ; being 
encouraged by the powerful pleadings of an all-sufficient 
Mediator, who gave himself a ransom for Ml men ; and 
yet continue under the influence of an absolute and ante- 
mundane decree, is almost incomprehensible to the 
candid mind, which takes the truth of inspiration ac- 
cording to plain, obvious statement. Instruction has 
much simple sentiment to subdue before acquiescence 
can be entirely gained from the young,to the partial plan* 
Those youths can hardly perceive how the language of 
holy writ can be so little accommodated to its awful 
contents, as to designate " some" under the denomina- 
tion of " all/ 5 and " a few" under that of the 4< whole 
world." 

That an interest in, and a claim to the redemption of 
Christ and its divine contents, are afforded to all men, 
are particulars obvious to the plainest capacity. God 
has concluded all men under sin, that he might show 
mercy upon all — He commanded that repentance and 
remission of sins should be preached to all — He pro- 
mised to draw all to him— arid invited all men, Now 
after seeing those plain proofs and a variety of others 
adduced, how can it be expected that a reader should 
be found who can possibly aver, that the comprehensive 
word "all," as often as it occurs, must be stinted to 
mean only "a few" to the utter exclusion of the great 
remainder of the human race ? Is it not evident to 
every serious reader of the divine word, that Christ 
died even for those who by their own fault may lose 
all the benefits of that free, full, and sufficient sacrifice 
which he offered for all mankind ? Some proceeded 
to such a pitch of apostacy as to deny the Lord that 
bought them — Some received the grace of God in vain. 
The Gospel offers terms of eternal life to all. That 
the God of all truth and equity should send true Ambas- 
sadors, anointed with his Spirit, and full of divine ener- 
gies, to entreat a reconciliation between God and man ; 
proposing the fair terms of repentance towards God and 
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ ; warning every man^ and 



204 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 

teaching every man, to the end that they might present 
every man to Christ, certainly shows that God wills the 
salvation of every man. Who can help being persuaded 
that God would have all men to be saved, when he 
reads the following statement in the first Book of the In- 
stitutes, " Forasmuch as the upshot of an happy life 
consists in the knowledge of God, lest the door of 
happiness should be shut against any man, God has not 
only implanted in the minds of men, that which we call 
the seed of religion ; but he has likewise so manifested 
himself in all the fabric of the world, and presents him- 
self daily to them in so plain a manner, that they cannot 
open their eyes, but they must needs discover him." 
\Vhy then do persons who glory in being called by the 
name of this reformer despise the seed of religion which 
God has implanted in the minds of men, lest the door 
«f happiness should be shut against any ? That God 
secretly wills the salvation of all men, as well as openly 
declares it, is very evident to any one engaged in the 
contemplation of scripture evidence. The great and 
glorious cause of our redemption is frequently declared 
to be the love of God, which surely thinketh no evil, 
designeth no evil, contriveth no evil. God so loved 
the world as to give his only begotten Son, who died the 
just for the unjust, to bring us to God. The offers of 
the Gospel carry peace and good will upon the very 
face of them. The}^ were glad tidings, good news, and 
matter of great joy to all people. Though our Lord, 
in the prayer John xvii. 9, would appear for a moment, 
to pray only for his disciples present, yet, verse 20, he 
prays for his future disciples ; and then giving the ut- 
most latitude to his charitable wishes, he prays (verse 
21,) that the world may believe ; and, (verse 23,) that 
the world may know that God had sent him : and he 
prayed for his murderers, who were men of the world. 
The reason why he did not include the world immedi- 
ately with his apostles was, because the world was not 
m a capacity to receive their peculiar blessings. 

That the redemption of Christ was general, appears 
from its being rendered equal in interest to the fall of 
Adam. The undertakings and performances of the 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST, 205 

second Adam being put in counterpoise against the sin 
of the first. As Adam was the general representative 
5f men fallen ; so Christ of men received again to di= 
vine favour. As by the transgression of one, judgment 
is come upon all to condemnation ; so by the righteous- 
ness of one, the free gift is come upon all to justifica- 
tion of life. If all men have sinned and come short of 
the glory of God ; so all are justified through the re- 
demption that is in Christ Jesus. If the offence of 
Adam affected the whole human system ; the advocacy of 
Christ atones for it. He condescends to stand in the 
relation of Brother, Father, and Friend to his human 
offspring. The pity of a parent, and the relentings of 
a friend, are ascribed to our great Substitute. The 
comfort such relationship affords, is most precise and 
definite, and calculated to make the penitent hopeful, 
and the upright easy and happy. How this heavenly 
Substitute could be said to become our Brother, not 
being ashamed of the character, but confessing it, and 
at the same time either make an absolute decree, ex- 
cluding the majority of the human race from his favour, 
or be the author of a partial redemption, is not only a 
parados, but a contradiction. This Redemption was 
carried on by our elder brother, upon a plan perfectly 
calculated to banish distrust, and revive the most timid 
and dejected heart. The inference follows, " Let us 
come with boldness to the throne of grace, that we 
may obtain mercy, and find grace to help us in time of 
need ?" 

The affectionate prayers which our Great Advocate 
put up for the worst of men, even his enemies, perse • 
cutors, and murderers, not only argued the depth of his 
charity, but that they were in a capacity of pardon and 
salvation. It was for the great purpose of saving souls 
that he assumed our nature. He had experience of 
the external distresses and internal sorrows of the hu- 
man condition. His state on earth was not an easy and 
opulent one, in which he might glide through the world 
with insensibility. He did not suit his mission to high 
life chiefly, but also to the poor and low, who endure 
the inconveniences of toilsome life. He underwent the 

18 



206 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST* 

disregard of relations, the ingratitude of friends, th£ 
scorn of the proud, and the insults of the mean. The 
sharpness of pain, and the violence of reproach were 
no strangers to him. He felt as a man, being troubled 
in spirit, having groaned and wept more than once. 
And finally, he died for our sins, and rose again for our 
justification. All this was for the general good. Can 
we suppose for a moment, that a bosom, possessed of a 
principle of love beyond all comparison, who became 
the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, 
but for the sins of the whole world, could at the same 
time be engaged in contriving writs of exclusion, and 
binding by the chains of an absolute and impassible de- 
cree, millions of souls to an inevitable doom of ever- 
lasting misery ? 

When God declares that he is willing that all men 
should be saved, and come ta the knowledge of the 
truth — that Christ has purchased salvation for all — cor- 
dially and affectionately inviting all men to it — earnestly 
complaining and expostulating with men for not repent- 
ing — assuring them that they must impute their ruin to 
their own obstinate impenitence — that the great foun- 
dation of condemnation is, that light is come into the 
world, but that men love darkness rather than light- 
that he delivered the doctrines of salvation, but that 
men would not come to him to be saved — that they de- 
feated the counsel of God against themselves — that 
they judged themselves unworthy of eternal life — ha- 
ving no way to escape if they neglected the great sal* 
vation freely and unequivocally offered to them. If 
all these reasons in mass, be not positive proof of a 
present state of probation, and a possibility of present 
salvation, the candid reader knows not whither the 
guidance of inspiration is conducting him. We should 
restrain the excursions of a wanton imagination, and re- 
ject such sentiments, however agreeable to our system, 
as are not accordant with the analogy of faith. When 
such open, manifest declarations and promises are made 
to all mankind, what power must a private system have 
over us, when, without any show of reason, we can 
clog these divine offers with secret reserves, impassi- 
ble barriers, and insurmountable impediments ? 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 207 

To a candid reader of the Holy Scriptures, who 
searches their contents for edification, all the offers and 
promises of a free salvation must appear to be set 
forth in the plainest and most unequivocal terms, so as 
forcibly to strike the attention not already prejudiced. 
So far from apprehending unavoidable predestination or 
partial redemption in the cup, he cannot see how the 
advices given, and the declarations made, can at all con- 
sist with any thing short of universal grace and mercy. 
When we read that Christ fulfilled the conditions on 
which he became the Saviour of all men, it must af- 
ford us a very plain proof that he is worthy of that 
great title. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world — He is the Mediator between God and 
men, or mankind in general — He tasted death for every 
man— He gave himself a ransom for all men. Like the 
exalted serpent of brass in the wilderness, as many as 
look to Jesus, the author and finisher, as well as the 
director of their faith, shall be healed. 

So far are the Scriptures, when carefully and judi- 
ciously compared, from excluding any persons from the 
free offers of mercy, that they are most express in bring- 
ing the whole human race under the saving influence of 
divine grace. While they discover the nature and con- 
dition of man, as fallen in the first Adam, they discover 
at the same time the redemption that is in Christ, the 
second Adam. Their arguments are sufficiently per- 
suasive to overcome all opposition, and control all 
prejudice. A Mediator between God and his human 
creatures was the object after which men in all nations, 
and under all forms of religion, had long and anxiously 
sought. Christ has ratified a new covenant in their be- 
half. Salvation is made attainable. It is offered upon 
easy and equal conditions — Every man, however distant, 
is invited to a near approach. .However fallen man may 
be, depressed by a conscious sense of guilt, retired 
and shrunk from a direct approach to the Sovereign of 
the universe, he is welcome to an auspicious introduction 
to that divine presence, and a view of the glory of God 
in the face of Jesus Christ. 

How an ungenerous exclusion of the generality of 
the human race from all saving grace, can consist with 



208 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST* 

the numerous pledges of good will afforded by our 
heavenly Father, I leave the reader to consider. 
Christ our great Saviour purchased and procured all 
necessary aids, in the great business of salvation. A 
sufficient knowledge of duly is graciously afforded. A 
power to withstand the'temptations of the common ene- 
my of souls : to subdue all evil affections and headlong 
propensities : to repent of sin, sincerely and heartly for- 
saking, renouncing, and disowning it; to believe with 
the heart unto righteousness, and confess with the mouth 
unto salvation: to taste the heavenly gift, and be made 
partakers of the Holy Ghost in his sanctifying and sup- 
porting virtues. Can we, with any show of reason, think 
that any secret reserves, impassible barriers, and insur 
mountable impediments, can consist with invitations* 
exhortations, promises, commands, and threatenings?— 
Must not the tender complaints which a heavenly Fa- 
ther is pleased to employ with his human offspring 
carry on the face of them an open declaration of all pos- 
sible sincerity of intention and address ? Why is 
his affectionate address thrown away ? Would not the 
ruin of the party be sufficiently provided for by a mere 
offer, if the making, and the unavoidable non-accept- 
ance of this were to be followed by such an effect? 

The principle called conscience, which the Moral 
Governor of the world has implanted in every breast, 
is another plain proof of his willingness to save the in- 
dividual who is under its direction and energies. En- 
tering within himself, the human being hears a voice 
of no small commando How often does the individual 
become his own accuser, witness, and judge? How often 
does he become the serious auditor of discourses, which 
no ear but his own can hear ? How often has he been 
obliged to recall the past, and to anticipate the most awful 
effects, as likely to be produced at a future period from 
the train of things as laid at the present ? The more 
thoroughly any man examines what passes within his 
own breast, the more certainly will he be able to con- 
clude 9 that the divine influence procured, by the re- 
demption that is in Christ, operates powerfully through 
the severe yet faithful reproofs of conscience, 



GENERAL REDEiMPTION IN CHRIST, 209 

The Gospel affords another strong as well as pleasing 
proof of the great plan of redemption. It makes the 
sense of divine instruction easily comprehensible; 
placing things before men's eyes in so clear a light as to 
be understood without difficulty. Out of the mouths of 
babes and sucklings it ordains praise. One need not 
go up to heaven, to bring Christ down from above; 
nor penetrate into the hidden mysteries of absolute 
decrees. The word is nigh to him. which assures hiin, 
that to him also is the offer ot a free and full and ever- 
lasting salvation given. God has brought life and im= 
mortality to light in Christ, making the way plain and the 
conditions practicable, assuring us that he now calls all 
men every where to repent. These declarations, re- 
peated and enforced by every possible argument, must 
encourage the humble, without flattering the presump- 
tuous or excluding any. 

General admonition affords a convincing proof of the 
universality of the redemption of Christ. As God does 
nothing in vain, we can hardly presume to suppose that 
he undertakes to admonish, where an utter impossibi- 
lity of attending to his admonition bars up the way of 
profiting the individual admonished. So far is the word 
of truth from excluding any, that it speaks in the lan- 
guage of general declaration. u We warn every man, 
and teach every man in all righteousness, that we may 
present every man perfectin Christ— these things I say 
unto you, (Pharisees) that ye might be saved — If some 
of the branches be broken off; because of unbelief 
they were broken off, and thou standest by faith ; be 
not high-minded, but fear. Now is the day of salvation: 
to-day, while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts 
— -Despisest thou the riches of God's forbearance and 
long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God 
leadeth thee to repentance ?— Pharaoh hardened his 
heart and repented not — Take heed lest any of you 
be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin — He that 
hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief — They are 
without excuse, because when they knew God, they 
glorified him not as God." 

General exhortation is another proof equally plain 
18* 



210 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST, 

and applicable. All the weary and heavy laden are 
invited to come to him for true rest. His ambas- 
sadors bring us glad tidings of great joy. They 
beseech us in the most affectionate manner, to be re- 
conciled to God, through Christ, The times of igno- 
rance God winked at, but now he calls all men, every 
where, to repent. Life and death being set before us 
in their connexions and consequences, we are exhort 
ed to choose life that we may live. In the glorious 
race for eternal life, we are exhorted so to run that we 
may obtain the prize of the high calling of God in 
Christ Jesus. We are to put on the whole armour of 
God, that we may stand in the evil day, and stand at 
last before the Son of man. We are to lay hold on 
everlasting life. We are to let no man take our crown. 
A previous capacity to listen and obey, must be the 
ground on which God is pleased to build the reason- 
ableness of exhortation. 

Censure is another of the gracious means, which the 
good providence of God is pleased to employ in this 
important labour of love. As ignorance is to be in- 
structed, and carelessness apprized of danger ; so the 
principle of shame in man is to be roused to duty, by- 
just reproof. What language can be more affecting 
than " All the day long have I stretched forth my hands 
to a gainsaying and disobedient people. 1 have 
stretched out my hands and no man regarded me. Hear, 
O heavens I and give ear, O earth! I have nourished 
and brought up children, and they have rebelled against 
me : the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his mas* 
ter's crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth 
not consider. How often would I have gathered you to- 
gether, but ye would not. Thou knowest not the day 
of thy visitation. Why even of yourselves judge ye 
not what is right ? They have built the high places of 
Baal, to burn their sons with fire. Ungodly men turn 
the grace of God into wantonness. Ye put the word 
of God from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of 
eternal life. Need I ask, whether those censures be 
Jiot equivalent to a positive declaration, that the per 



GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST, 211 

sons reproved had all necessary knowledge of their 
duty, and power to comply with it ? 

The promises of God are of the general or universal 
kind, and offer — " Whoso forsaketh his sin shall find 
mercy. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the un- 
righteous man his thoughts, and the Lord will have 
mercy and abundantly pardon. As high as heaven is 
above earth, so high are God's ways above our ways, 
and his thoughts above our thoughts ; and so great is 
his mercy to them that fear him. Because the sinner 
considereth, he shall surely live and not die. At what 
instant I speak concerning a nation or a people, to de- 
stroy it, if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, 
turn from their evil, 1 will repent of the evil that I 
thought to do unto them. When the wicked man 
turneth away from his wickedness, he shall save his 
soul alive. Ask and ye shall receive ; seek and ye 
shall find ; knock and it shall be opened." Surely these 
great and precious promises are sufficient to encourage 
the most desponding and timid, to lay hold on the hope 
set before them. 

Threatening also is intended to produce the most 
divine reformation of character, as well as inward 
change of mind and disposition. Threatening, indi- 
cates that a softer mode of address had been spurned 
and rejected already. " Because 1 called and ye re- 
fused, I will laugh at your calamity, and mock when 
your fear cometh. Thus saith the Lord, Did I choose 
thy father out of all the tribes of Israel to be my 
priest ? Why kick ye at ray sacrifice ? Wherefore the 
Lord God saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the 
house of thy father, should walk before me for ever, 
But now the Lord saith, That be far from me : for them 
that honour me will I honour, and they that despise me 
shall be lightly esteemed. 1 will bring evil upon the 
city, because they have hardened their necks. Threat- 
enings on sacred record show that while they are fit 
for doctrine, reproof, and instruction in righteousnesSj 
they are also fit for correction, or amendment. What 
shall we think of the Institutes on this head, that 
••When God addresses the same word to reprobate^ 



212 GENERAL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST, 

though it produces not their correction, yet he makes 
it effectual for another purpose, namely, that they may 
be confounded by the testimony of their consciences 
now, and be rendered more inexcusable in the day of 
judgment." God is far from intending evil by threat- 
ening, that it is the last effort of our affectionate parent 
with his prodigal children, and even then it is not hope- 
less. 

The texts and reasons produced, which attest and de- 
clare the universality of the redemption which is in 
Christ, are but a few of a great host. The plain argu- 
ments advanced are sufficient to convince any unpre- 
judiced person, that their manifest scope best suits the 
idea of man's being a subject of probation. The pre- 
destinating system tells its votaries, " that reward is not 
to human merit, but to the divine gifts." Far be it from 
the true Christian to set up the claims of human merit; 
or to imagine himself possessed of gifts which he has 
not received at the hand of God. But can it be thought 
that the Calvinistic view of this great subject is correct, 
in distinguishing between the persons, and thegiftscon- 
ferred ? Our blessed Saviour instructs us fully on this 
great subject, when he assures us, " Your heavenly 
Father shall reward you openly,'* Matt, vi 4. In Matt, 
xvi. 27, He speaks still more expressly. " He shall 
reward every man according to his works." The 
great apostle of the Gentiles, in speaking of Moses, 
Heb. xi. 26, says, that " He had respect to the recom- 
pense of reward" The apostle John, in his second 
Fpistle, bids the members of primitive Christianity, 
^ Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things 
which we have wrought, but that we receive a full 
reward." Is not the reward acknowledged to be of 
grace ? Must the agency be lost sight of, to which it is 
attached ? 

A dispensation which professes to be " grace, mercy, 
and peace, from God the Father, and from our Lord 
Jesus Christ," requires it as a religious duty, to con^ 
ceive of him in such a manner as may not hide from -us 
the splendour of those divine perfections. When we 
listen to him, saying, " Give me thine heart," there 



FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN WILL, &C. 213 

ought not to be wanting in our hearts, a just ground of 
the exacted tribute of affection. When he says, '' If 
I be a Father, where is mine honour ?" let there be 
found in us such a conviction of paternal right as shall 
make the motive operative. And when we read that 
he will finally "judge the world in righteousness," let 
us conceive of this attribute, as also governing in the 
preparatory dispensation of the Gospel. Yes, great 
Creator and Preserver, thou hast told us that thou art 
good to all ! May we never then lose sight of thee, in 
this thine endearing character ! 

OF FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN WILL, OR OF ACTION 

Another " Absurdity of Methodism," at which Mr. 
P. hurls the fiery darts of disputation is, the doctrine of 
free will, or the power of moral acting , which the Metho- 
dists aver to be the gift of God to man. This power 
relates particularly to his moral capacity of knowing 
and fulfilling the united duty which he owes his Maker, 
his fellow-creatures, and himself Should any evil 
follow in the present state of probation, from man's 
burying or abusing this talent, he must account for it 
hereafter. 

It is acknowledged by all parties, that man, in conse- 
quence of the unhappy effects of Adam's fall, besides 
becoming mortal, is so changed that he cannot of him- 
self alone, begin or accomplish his recovery from the 
state of sin and misery, in which his connexion with 
Adam places him, without a principle of grace or spi» 
ritual life, obtained through the great Advocate and 
Mediator, Jesus Christ. But surely wherever the 
the name of Adam is mentioned as a representative of 
our fall; the name of Christ is also mentioned as our 
great Restorer. We are assured that where the trans- 
gression abounded to condemnation, the free gift is 
equally abundant. 

The will is a leading power of the human soul, and 
volition the exercise of that power, which is the imme- 
diate cause of action in man. Propensities, affections, 
and other active principles in our nature, may stimu 



214 FREEDOM OP THE HUMAN WILL, 

late the mind to action, and thus prove motives to the 
exercise of its voluntary powers. These internal 
emotions, therefore, and the various external objects 
which tend to incite them, may be regarded as primary 
and remote causes of our actions ; but the immediate 
and proximate cause is volition, or that power of willing 
and acting which man possesses and exercises. 

It is evident to every minute observer, that in doing 
good or evil, he is so far free as is requisite to respon- 
sibility. The sense of liberty is so universal, as to 
warrant the strongest belief of it. This is plain and 
obvious, and not educed from remote or recondite spe- 
culations, which we are not bound to understand, or 
even to listen to. On no other ground can conscience 
do its work of a faithful monitor ; and on no other 
ground will sinners, in a future state, look back with 
self-condemnation, on a da} of grace, mercifully be- 
stowed on them, but suffered to pass away unimproved. 

Nothing can be more contradictory to Scripture, rea- 
son, and the common sense of all mankind, than to 
make absolute necessity consistent with a state of pro* 
bation. Where there is accountability, there must be 
free-agency, or freedom of will in acting. If men 
have no capacity to disobey, they can have no capacity 
to obey in the moral sense of the word. The obedience 
of such persons as have no choice, is as far from true 
and genuine morality, as the passive obedience of a 
leaden bullet, which a person drops with an absurd 
command, which orders it *• to fall," having first let go 
his hold of it. If men can be supposed to be un- 
changeably fixed in virtue or in vice, by any decree 
which they cannot possibly resist, or evade, then all 
liberty is at an end, and man deserves no more praise 
or blame for the good or evil he does, than a log for 
falling to the ground which is its centre, and to which 
place it must fall when dropped. 

The necessarian scheme, however much a favourite 
with many modern Calvinists, was not a doctrine con- 
tended for by their early predecessors at the reforma- 
tion ; nor has it shown its head in the works of Calvin. 
Accordingly, when it is stated that the Calvinists and 






OR OF ACTION. 21£ 

Arminians agreed in the loss of free-will, instead of 
having any thing to do with the metaphysical subtlety 
of absolute necessity, it only means, that with whatever 
ability for keeping the law of his Creator, man had 
been originally clothed, he had become divested of it 
by the fall ; so that his recovery cannot be either be* 
gun or perfected, otherwise than under the influence 
of divine aid, a sufficient measure of which the Armi- 
nians maintain to be given to every man, through Christ, 
to profit withal. 

God always uses means sufficient to demonstrate to 
every individual, the very great trust or talent lodged 
with him, and its sufficiency to rise to a state of high 
improvement, unless he obstinately resist the heavenly 
claim, and refuse to work out his salvation, or to be 
(with all humility) a worker together with his Maker, 
The grace which is universally manifested through the 
great atonement, enlightens, assists, supports, and in- 
cites ; so that if we fail in the attainment of the great 
end, which is the will of God concerning us, the 
charges attached to such conduct must be altogether im- 
puted to those that receive the grace of God in vain, 
and bury the precious talent intrusted to their fidelity. 
The adoption of such a conduct is as great a charge 
against the power of choice lodged with men, as to hurl 
one's self, with eyes widely open, in broad daylight, 
over the rough edge of a dreadful precipice into the 
sea. 

The nature of the will is understood, as we under- 
stand the other powers of our minds, namely, by on 
inward consciousness. The plainest and most unlet- 
tered man perfectly understands the meaning of the 
phrases, " 1 will, and I will not." It is also under- 
stood by its frequent acts. Religion is matter of our 
free choice; God himself assuring us that he has set 
both sides of this serious question before us, in their 
true lights and colours and magnitudes, attaching even 
death and life to the choice which he allows, or rather 
commands us to make. He assures us repeatedly, that 
he is an imprudent man and out of the sphere of appro- 
bation, who in this matter, which is of prime impor- 



216 FREEDOM OP THE HUMAN WILL 5 

tance, can wait to be irresistibly determined, neglecting 
at the same time, opportunities never to be retrieved. 
Such a person stands as it were upon the shore, and 
seeing the tide advance with awful pace, has but a few 
minutes to fly from ruin, and yet will allow himself to 
sleep there, unless God interfere in a miraculous 
or extraordinary way to rouse and save him. 

The good will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us $ 
being our present and eternal salvation ; if we come 
short of this, we must bear the awful blame in our own 
persons. God himself assures us that " this is the con* 
demnation, that light is come into the world, and men 
love darkness rather than light, because their deeds 
are evil." " They have eyes, but will not see ; ears, 
but will not hear ; and hearts, but they will not under- 
stand." " Ye always resist the Holy Ghost." " They 
rejected the counsel of God against themselves" — 
u Grieved the Spirit" — " Quenched the Spirit." {i Je- 
zebel had time to repent, and she repented not." 
"Their eyes have they closed. 9i The freedom of the 
human will can no more be denied, upon the laws of 
natural and revealed religion, than they can upon the 
principles of common sense, and civil government ; as 
nothing would be more absurd than to bind us by laws 
of a spiritual or civil nature, if we were not moral 
agents, having a competent knowledge of our duty, and 
a sufficient power to perform it. 

The freedom of the will in its choice, or of the mind 
in its volitions, merits the closest attention and regard. 
To a close examiner, it must appear, that instead of 
being in all cases determined by irresistible motives : 
or being unable to act but when determined by the 
strongest motive, or the last motive in the view of the 
mind, at the time of acting ; the will is free not only in 
acting, but in determining also. Instead of being void 
of all inward energy, or power over its own acts, or 
subjected to the irresistible impulse of motives, as the 
water-wheel is to the force and gravity of the fluid that 
turns it round, it possesses a power of determining in 
the face of interest, pleasure, habit, profit, and even 
life itself, if duty be on the contrary side. 



OR OF ACTION. 217 

Mr. P. will hardly allow himself to be convinced but 
that men can unite not only contrarieties, but also ab- 
solute contradictions. He contends earnestly for the 
possibility of man's sinning willingly, in doing evil or 
good, while under the all-commanding influence of the 
irresistible decree. Now it is really impossible to 
learn, on just principles, how involuntary beings can sin 
voluntarily. To sin voluntarily, the will must be sup- 
posed at liberty to choose or to refuse, according to its 
own preference. If this be so, the necessarian scheme 
is immediately renounced, and the doctrine of free will 
openly allowed, which must overthrow all inevitable 
predestination. This is one of the grounds on which 
God assures us that he will judge the world in righteous- 
ness. Whereas, were it to be insinuated for a moment 
that the wills of men are bound with an adamantine 
chain to that choice which they make, and to that con- 
duct which they adopt ; the scheme must pour shame, 
folly, and unrighteousness upon the tribunal of the 
just and holy Judge. 

The possession of free will is not a subject, to know 
which a person need go up to the heights, or down to 
the depths of penetrating research. It appears to be 
a matter of the utmost simplicity, and the most obvious 
solution. It falls under the very plain head of general 
experience, to which an appeal ought to be made for 
true decision. Every man of discernment is conscious 
to himself, that he acts freely ; and that in all cases of 
general or ordinary recurrence, when he is not under 
the impulse of some general or violent passion, or un- 
der the commanding influence of some inveterate habit, 
he has it in his power to pursue a directly contrary 
course of action, from that to which he is invited by the 
present predominant motive. Though others might do 
as they would, the resolution of Joshua was "J and my 
house will serve the Lord" David could declare in all 
sincerity, " I have sworn and will perform it, that I will 
keep thy righteous judgments." The prodigal could 
come to the resolution, "J will arise and go to mij 
father " Where this privilege is improved, the Chris- 
tian is resolved to have heaven, let it cost what it; 

19 



218 FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN WILL, 

may. What clangers encountered, difficulties trampled 
upon, and terrors contemned, adorn the holy records ? 
The resolutions of the will are soon followed by the 
vigour of the affections, which are the wings on which 
the soul rises in its flight towards glory ; which also 
«oon put forth strength of endeavour ; not forgetting, 
however, that when all human strength is put forth, 
the great help and blessing of God must be supplicated 
and relied on. 

Here it is entreated, that all misconception may be 
guarded against, as it respects this very important sub- 
ject, if Mr. P. seriously hear the unequivocal voice 
of Methodism, (notwithstanding the charge of absurdi- 
ties which he has brought against it for want of better 
acquaintance with it) it will be found in general to abound 
with passages, ascribing all the good in man to the grace 
of God, so that it must he a great mistake or error, to 
suppose it attributing any thing to the mere wills of 
fallen man, as operative of good of its own power or 
virtue. All is openly ascribed to grace ; but this, con- 
sistently with human liberty, under the operation of 
the divine influence and help, while without it, there 
would be no liberty, but the will be enslaved to sin. 
r To the assertion, "that a man may possess a will 
while under the inevitable influence and energy of an 
absolute decree," it may easily be replied, that it is 
not merely having a will, but having a free will, which 
constitutes us accountable creatures, capable of blame 
or approbation, of punishment or reward. On this 
principle, God invites with " Come, for all things are 
io\v ready." Hence also "lie gives to every man his 
portion to profit withal — lie who believeth shall be 
saved ; but he who believeth not shall be condemn- 
ed." He assures us that none shall perish merely for 
Adam's sin, but for their own unbelief and wilful re- 
action of the Saviour's grace. He shows us in colours 
that must win our softest and warmest affections, the 
astonishing mercy which wept over Jerusalem, and 
prayed and bled even for those that shed his life's 
blood. Will not this suffice for erery candid inquirer 
for truth ? 



OR OP ACTION. 210 

The necessarian scheme opposes unfounded specu- 
lation to self-evident and repeated facts, presuming to 
assert that " all acts of the will must be determined 
irreversibly by the motives which appear before it, as 
they are presented/' By the adoption of this error, 
they have been led to conclusions altogether contrary 
to nature and experience. We seem at this rate to be 
free, and yet we are at the same time borne along by a 
powerful stream, to which w r e make no resistance, be- 
cause it concurs with our inclinations. We are like so 
many feathers swimming wherever the current carries 
us. Unstable as water, we cannot excel. We can be 
nothing but what we are : we can neither think, nor 
speak, nor do, but as the stream rolls us along. Row a 
just and holy God can reprove, blame, censure, reward 
or punish, on this principle, is what Mr. P. will lind it 
very hard to show, if in every particular, to the mi- 
nutest, momentary, passing thought, we be absolutely 
and irresistibly bound over to the particular part we 
act, or the department we occupy. 

Our Lord and Master held up a high prospect of 
freedom to all who would not stubbornly reject his 
offer and exclude themselves. Upon his preaching to 
the Jews, many believed on him. He told them that if 
they continued in his doctrine, "they would be his 
disciples indeed, and they should know the truth ;" or 
advance, by progressive degrees, to a more perfect 
knowledge of the wisdom from above ; and while the 
light of heavenly doctrine irradiated the understanding, 
and warmed and inflamed the heart and affections, it 
would also make them free," intimating that his doc- 
trine, heartily embraced, would assert to men the truest 
and most perfect kind of liberty. Where the powers 
afforded are submitted to be enlightened and directed ? 
as well as assisted, by the ail-sufficient truth and grace 
of God, nothing that is a duty or demand of heaven, will 
be impossible. 

The Scripture testimonies in favour of the self-evi- 
dent doctrine of free will, amount to an illustrious host. 
The candid reader, however simple and inexperienced, 
remarks also, as he reads the sacred pages, that blame 



220 FREEDOM OF THE HUHAS WILL, 

rises in his own mind, as well as in the divine reproof, 
for the doing of things which might have been avoided ; 
and that a single contrary authority could not be pro- 
duced, which deprives a man of the power of choice, 
or first binds over to a wrong choice, and then con* 
demns or punishes for choosing according to such pre- 
ference. The uniform voice of reason also is, " If a 
man have not a power by free-will, to avoid what is 
evil, and to pursue what is good, no blame can attach to 
his actions, whatever they may be." The Scriptures 
not only set life and death, in ail their various mean- 
ings, before the eyes of men, but beg, entreat, and com^ 
mand, that life may be chosen, and death as resolutely 
rejected. 

But here it. is asked by Mr. P., and brought as an ab- 
surdity not only against Methodism, but against Chris- 
tianity in general— M If a man do or will any thing con- 
nected with his salvation, does not this deprive the 
great Redeemer of the glory ?" Answer : By no 
means. Whilethe Gospel offers a free salvation, man, 
to share its privileges and promises, must believe with 
the heart unto righteousness. While the glorious 
crown of righteousness is held out to the eye of faith, 
men are to be temperate, that they may so run as to 
obtain it. While men are to be saved by grace, through 
faith, they are at the same time to work out their sal- 
vation. While they are to rejoice in the Lord, this is 
not to hinder them from rejoicing in the testimony of a 
good conscience. To receive the gift of God, they had 
to ask — to find, they had to seek — to enter the door of 
mercy, they had to knock, with loud but sincere en- 
treaty — to reap life everlasting, they had to sow to the 
Spirit. 

The decision of the question relative to free-will and 
free-agency, involves considerations of high importance 
to morals, religion, and civil life. The doctrine of ne- 
cessity, when pursued to its ultimate consequences, 
must destroy all possible distinctions between good and 
evil, right and wrong ; taking away all commendation 
from what is good, as well as discredit from all the depths 
of wilful depravity. Surely the practical dictates of 



OR OF ACTION. 221 

truth and reason must show in the most open manner, 
the errors of such unfounded speculation. To put the 
moral and religious world under the chain of specula- 
tire necessity, annihilates all distinction, and destroys 
all order. The murderer and the supporter of life, 
the robber and the public or private benefactor, the 
perjurer and the man of equity, are all at this rate 
doing according to the inevitable decree. 

The Scriptures speak of a freedom which, if properly 
exerted, will be rendered productive of the most glo- 
rious results. Hence we are commanded to awake ; 
to arise from the dead ; to shake off the slavish yoke 
of sin ; to escape from the chains of darkness ; and to 
fiy for refuge to the open door which is set before us. 
We are commanded to take up a firm and manly reso- 
lution, and to enter the glorious liberty of the children 
of God. Though it be no easy matter to break off the 
ties of vicious habits ; and therefore requires great 
firmness of mind: yet as surely as the duty becomes 
incumbent, the power to accomplish it will be instanta- 
neously attendant. Nothing is too hard for rirm reso- 
lution, supported by the grace of God. 

God, who knew what was fittest to be done, made men 
and angels partakers of the great privilege of free will, 
inclining them to do well and justty, as rational crea- 
tures, in a state of probation. On this principle only. 
he could command and forbid, promise and threaten, 
reward and punish. On this principle he has promised 
that such as do good, shall be rewarded with glory and 
honour ; because they entered on it with his assistance^ 
and in obedience to his will ; though he had placed 
them in such a condition as to leave it in their power 
not to have done it. On the same principle he threat- 
ens to punish those who have the knowledge of his 
will, and power to do it, because they have not done 
the good,, and rejected the evil. 

Mr. P. observes, * Man has no disposition to will or 
do any thing acceptable to God, until God puts the 
will within him by his special grace." What Metho- 
dist doubts that it is God, the great benefactor, who 
gives grace and glory ? The question is not whether 

19* 



222 FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN WILL 5 

God is the giver of all grace, but whether he overlooks 
and passes by ninety-nine out of a hundred, to whom 
he gives nothing, and against whom he has contrived 
this rejection before the foundation of the world ? Is 
it consistent with our ideas of a God of grace and 
mercy, that where he has given no talent, he should 
nevertheless make as rigid a demand for improvement 
as if he had given rive talents ? Far be it from us to 
speak in this manner of the righteous Judge of all the 
earth. When we speak of him, we mean all that is 
great and good, and just and wise ; not expecting to 
reap, but where he has sown, or to gather, but where 
he has strewn. 

If we deprive man of freedom of will, and put him 
under an absolute necessity of choosing wrong, and 
acting immorally, the term so circumstanced, must re- 
lieve the consequences, as to the accountability or 
guilt of the agent. To say that notwithstanding the 
inevitable decree, the course of immoral action being 
voluntary, is therefore criminal, is merely an abuse of 
words, if the will to evil is to be considered as irresis- 
tibly infused by the author of our being. Can any 
thing like a trial be said to be imposed on a subject 
under the chains of an invincible decree, though 
softened by the deceptive name of moral necessity ? 
To purge out the old leaven — to take the kingdom of 
heaven by a holy violence — to do whatever the hand 
finds to do with all the might—to watch and pray — to 
avoid entering into temptation — to consider the body 
as the temple o£ the Holy Ghost — to seek after truth as 
for refined silver, and to give all diligence to mak,e the 
calling and election sure, is the necessity of Scripture. 
Wherever this simplicity is made the standard, it will 
plainly appear that man is considered as pos- 
sessed of a power of willing, or of complying with the 
will of God, when this is required ; or if men should 
feel a deficiency, all the help that is necessary will be 
afforded, if a sincere application be made at the throne 
of heavenly grace. 

That we may not be discouraged by an apprehension 
of too much difficulty in this work of the Lord, we are 



OR OF ACTIOX. 223 

informed that thousands had to travel the heavenly road 
before us, and some through streams of their own 
blood. They have left it on record that the main dif- 
ficulty occurs at first : that as surely as we exercise 
the measure of freedom of action which God has con- 
ferred, that our work is half done, while our talents or 
capacities of acting will be doubled. They assure us. 
that if we sustain the first attacks in the great contest 
of faith, and under the Captain of our salvation, we 
shall come off more than conquerors — that if in the 
strength of grace we resist the devil, he will flee from 
us : — that every day shall afford us more strength :— ~ 
that the habits of sin shall be not only weakened, but 
demolished ; while we shall be strong in the Lord and 
in the power of his might. 

If the power of exerting ourselves in the great busi- 
ness of our everlasting peace, were not a sacred depo- 
site lodged with us, can we conceive any grounds on 
which our heavenly Teacher would enjoin the doing of 
some things, and the forbearing, and even rejecting and 
riving from others ? All mankind are addressed as of 
the same nature, endued with a gracious power to en- 
gage and advance in good ; as well as with pcrwer again 
to lose and not complete it. Men can perceive, that 
zeal may be slackened to lukewarmness, and rapid 
progress to decline. Surely, this must be much more 
visible to him whose eyes are as a rlame of fire. He 
commends some for their good choice and perseve- 
rance ; while others are censured, because they drew 
back to folly. These things were written for our in- 
struction. We have a cloud of witnesses, whose ex- 
ample cries out in the most expressive language — 
" So run, that ye may obtain." 

In the Gospel dispensation of grace and mere} 7 , God 
seems to have gone to the very extreme of things, in 
afflicting innocency itself to save the guilty. And if 
his love to the human race as the offspring of Adam, be 
carried to the highest pitch, making his Son a curse 
for us, to redeem us from the curse of a broken law. 
we cannot possibly attribute to him any thing ungene- 
rous, at the time that he shows us the amazing plan of 
ihe redemption of the w r orld by our Lord Jesus Christ. 



2U 

On the freedom of the mind in acting, it may be 
stated that as far as duty is concerned, the mind which 
exercises the act of volition is perfectly free, even in 
the succession of motives, in the midst of which we 
are placed. The mind has all necessary and conve- 
nient power of deliberating or suspending its own ac- 
tions, without which control, it would be like the 
magnetic needle, and subject to the minutest force im- 
pressed, or the minutest excess of force between two 
motives. If the will be determined entirely by mo- 
tives, it must be merely the victim of events, or the 
slave of inclination, appetite, or passion. • But surely, 
every man feels within himself a power or capacity of 
accepting or rejecting ever so pleasing or harsh an 
offer, as it coincides with, or opposes interest, duty, or 
inclination. Even the flesh, which is so near, and which 
was formerly pampered, is now mortified. The ivy, 
which formerly embraced the oak, is eradicated. The 
right hand is cut off; and the right eye plucked out. 
An Isaac is offered at the altar of God. The pleasing, 
the profitable, the customary, and habitual, which be- 
came, as it were, a sweet part of nature, are discarded, 
and even life itself resigned to the most cruel and igno- 
minious death. Such is the power of the mind in 
willing and acting, when supported by the influence of 
grace. 

Joshua, the successor of Moses, knew nothing to 
prevent the people from making a free, and at the same 
time, a deliberate choice. When he, as God's agent, 
had brought Israel into the promised land, he called a 
general assembly, and in a very wise and eloquent 
speech, represented to them in what an extraordinary 
and miraculous manner God had delivered them, and 
brought them into the good land, and punctually per- 
formed all that he had promised. And as if they had 
never engaged themselves b}' covenant before, he ad- 
vises and exhorts them to choose the Lord as their God. 
Mere he insinuates, that religion, or the service of 
God, should be their free choice. And to direct, as 
well as encourage them to make a right choice, he 



OR OP ACTION. 225 

openly declares to them his own resolution, which he 
hopes will be theirs also. How different must this ex- 
hortation and resolution appear, from the language of 
such as declare, " Whom he (God) hath created unto 
the shame of life, and destruction of death, that they 
should be instruments of his wrath, he deprives them 
of all means of instruction, that he may blind and stu- 
pify them." 

The terms " to will and to choose ; as also, not to 
will or to refuse," are familiar to the meanest capaci- 
ties. If the choice be not accompanied with an alter- 
native, or something which we freely reject, as freely 
as we choose the other side, it is not worthy of the 
name of choice ; but rather deserves the name of ne- 
cessity or compulsion, than of liberty. It can put in 
no claim to that endearing term, a free-will offering, 
If to love God with ail the powers, be considered as 
an act that is unavoidable, I can see no reason why such 
stress is laid on the heart in religion. The man who is 
under the power of absolute compulsion, is as bound 
to this act and choice as the wheel to the axle-tree, and 
no more approvable on the principle of force. But 
this is so far from being the case with human beings^ 
that for the encouragement of beginners in the good 
way, I would say, " Be not discouraged, even though 
you do not meet with that success at first, which you 
expected and hoped for." Though after several at- 
tempts to recover your spiritual or moral liberty, you 
have been foiled and cast back ; still look to and rely on 
the strong for strength. By a mighty resolution, aided 
by an overpowering degree of the grace of God, some 
persons are reclaimed, at once, from a wicked life, to a 
holy conversation and godliness. In general, however, 
the good seed grows up insensibly and by degrees. 
The risen sun shines brighter and brighter to the per- 
fect day. Though inclinations to the former course 
may break in, and sometimes prevail, still, this should 
make them resume new courage, and put themselves 
afresh under the conduct of the great Captain of their 
salvation. 

In all the dealings of God with man, we cannot but 



226 FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN WILL, 

see him treated as one graciously possessed of the 
power of willing and acting in the greatest freedom. 
The injunction to 4t hold to that which is good," shows 
him possessed of a power to " will and to do" those 
things which God requires as a duty. In faith also has 
God preserved to man a will free, and possessed of 
the power of self-determination. Those who believed 
on evidence are commended : those who did not are 
censured. Neither the reward of good, nor the pun- 
ishment of evil, could be justly dispensed to man, if he 
were to be good or evil of necessity^ and not of will 
and choice. 

If any secret decree be supposed to operate irresis- 
tibly upon the choice of man, can there ^e any grounds, 
on which men can be charged with having made a free 
choice of death, and a free refusal of life ? If the per- 
son be not free in determination, mature in years, and 
wise in experience, how can he justly be said " to know 
how to refuse the evil and to choose the good ?" The 
charge which is brought against men is, " Because they 
refused, and did not choose the fear of the Lord, there- 
fore they shall eat the fruit of their own way." They 
possessed a power of free choice ; but they employed 
that power in a wrong way. 

The volitions of the mind are the effect of its own 
internal energy, by an original innate power over its 
own actions, of which every man who reflects upon 
himself is conscious, but which, like all the -other pri- 
mary perceptions, and operations of our nature, it is 
not easy to express in words. The soul being endow- 
ed with the faculty of deliberating, judging, comparing, 
and estimating motives, before it acts, demonstrates in 
the exercise of this power, the freedom of its actions. 
If motives govern the mind always and necessarily, 
then the present motive at each instant, when there is 
none stronger to counterbalance it, or that among seve- 
ral motives, which has any surplus of strength above 
its antagonists, must immediately and antecedently to 
all deliberation, determine its action. But the exer- 
cise of its deliberative powers, affords sufficient proof 






OR OF ACTlOff. 722 

that it still possesses the power of commanding its own 
actions. 

Many miscarry in the religious warfare, because they 
fake a false view of things, expecting to get a complete 
victory at the first attempt. The spiritual warfare is 
not always completed in a moment : the habits of 
grace and virtue are not matured in a day. Though 
these habits may be acquired by slow degrees at first, 
and with a great deal of conflict, and it be a good while 
before a man Can say, " 1 have conquered," yet if he 
persist in his holy resolution, and even when foiled, if 
he take heart again, in the strength of grace, he is in 
the way to victory. Therefore, should a soldier of 
Christ not meet with perfect success at the first, let him 
not on this account be discouraged, but go on, and God 
will tread Satan down under his feet. 

The Scriptures make frequent appeals to the will 
and choice of man. They set forth that man was 
formed originally with free will : that in no one thing 
was the image of God more conspicuous than in this : 
that it is impossible to possess righteousness and true 
holiness, without offering the soul and body a free-will 
offering to God : that this property of man's condition 
is confirmed by the law enjoined on him ; because a 
law could not have been given to one who had it not 
in his power to obey it. The same applies to subse- 
quent laws as well as to the law of Paradise. The 
discipline of those laws requires, that man should be 
i\ee in his will, to obey or to contemn. All necessary 
assistance is afforded through the agency of our great 
Advocate. 

Surely Mr. P. must imagine himself addressing the 
language of page 42 of his book to babes. " God is 
free as a Ruler to punish or pardon whom he pleases ; 
Man also is free, in the commission of sin at lea«t." 
[f God be free to do what he pleases, what becomes of 
the everlasting decree, by which he is bound to do as 
he does in every thing ? And if man be free, even as to 
the commission of sin, how, on that supposition, can he 
commit it, in consequence of any previous decree ? If 
there be liberty to choose sin freely, there must at the 



228 FREEDOM OP THE HUMAN WILL, 

same time be a liberty to reject it as freely, or the 
former is no liberty, but a mere name to dazzle or de- 
ceive the unwary. As well may it be said that a pri- 
soner under sentence of death is at liberty, when he 
goes the length of his double chain ; or to the extent of 
the floor of his dark cell. 

As motives are of great weight in determining the 
mind, it seldom acts without some present inducement, 
or end in view. Nevertheless on many occasions it 
may form determinations without motive, by the imme- 
diate energy of its own self-control. No one motive, 
or assemblage of motives, has power to compel it in any 
particular direction. We can still deliberate, compare, 
judge, and reason, concerning their respective value, 
and the degree of influence which they ought to pos- 
sess. We feel a power to accede to, and adopt, or to 
resist and refuse. Though heaven itself be given 
freely, yet it suffereth violence. Our earnestness for 
heaven, implying resolution of mind, vigour of affection, 
and strength of endeavour, they are set forth by those 
figures which imply intenseness, as striving, running, 
wrestling, and fighting. How these willing acts can 
consist with a state of complete and inevitable bondage, 
is a question impossible of solution. 

The Scriptures assure us, that man, being a moral 
creature, has a certain degree of power over his own 
actions, and is therefore accountable to God. Hence 
men are frequently assured that if they do not repent 
and return to God, they will certainly bear the blame 
in judgment. Some persons are reproved, because, 
having it in their power, they would not exercise faith 
in God ; and others, because having opportunity, they 
have not improved it. Can we for a moment suppose 
that the soul, oppressed with the weight of an irresisti- 
ble decree, can be free to act or to forbear, and that to 
any amount or degree ? Can it be said that one goes 
freely to hell, who never had power to go to heaven ? 
Or that another goes freely to heaven, who never had 
power to take a contrary course ? Are those scales 
free to ascend or descend, which are chained down to a 
pertain pitch or stand? Can a sinner 3 with any pro- 



OR OP ACTION. 229 

priety be said to choose death in the error of his ways, 
who never had power to choose life ? Does not a free 
choice of death necessarily imply a free refusal or re- 
jection of life ? And does not a free choice of life, as 
necessarily imply a free refusal or rejection of death ? 

It is perfectly evident to the reflecting mind, that 
when deliberating, we choose any of the motives be- 
fore us, we feel that we form a free choice. We can 
resist it; we are sensible of a power to follow another 
motive within the contemplation of the mind ; we can 
call up one at pleasure. Thus though always situated 
in the midst of various motives, addressed to the prin- 
ciples of appetite, affection, passion, duty, prudence, 
interest, and pleasure ; yet we are always able to judge 
among them with freedom, and to admit and reject them 
at pleasure. On this principle our heavenly Father 
addresses us with motives of infinite value, such as the 
precious soul we have to save, the heaven we are to 
attain, and the hell we are to shun. 

The human soul, so far from being bound over with 
a chain of adamant to any single motive, is placed as a 
judge listening to the pleas of different advocates ; and 
when it has given each and all a patient hearing, de- 
ciding with magisterial authority between them. Hence 
appears from experience as well as Scripture, the pos- 
sibility of performing the gracious condition required 
of us, by that divine grace which is offered, and ready 
to be afforded to us, by the Gospel plan. 

The influence which motives possess over the soul 
of man, is amoral and persuasive, and not an absolute 
influence. Inclination and duty offer, on one side or on 
the other, their respective claims, which are in no case 
irresistible, unless we except the effects of violent pas- 
sion, or inveterate habit. The mind contemplates and 
weighs them, and on the result forms its resolution : 
which, on the common occasions of life, it forms with 
promptness ; on others, with more deliberation ; buL 
on all with perfect freedom. Christ himself asked. 
"Will ye also go away V 9 regarding the provision by 
which man, left to his liberty, and possessed of free- 
dom of will, pursues for himself either death or Jife. 

20 



230 FEEEDOM OP THE HUMAN WILL, 

Can any thing be plainer, than that choice is the act of 
man, from God's plain declaration, " Behold, I have set 
before you life and death V 9 

Some persons employ this self-determining power to 
their own prejudice. They not only bury a talent, but 
make a vicious use of it. Instead of taking heaven by 
force, they keep it off by violence. Instead of knock- 
ing at the door of mercy, they even shut the door of 
their hearts. They shut their eyes against the light. 
" Thou hast rejected knowledge," Hosea iv. 6, was a 
serious charge. " They hated him that rebuked in the 
gate," Amos v. 10. " They put away the word of God 
from them," Acts xiii. 46. The sick man bolts out the 
physician, lest he should cure him. In the days of Job, 
they said to the Almighty, " Depart from us," Job xxi, 
14. A prophet addresses his countrymen with " O 
Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself," Hosea xiii. 9. 

Though it be granted, that of ourselves we can do 
nothing — that it is by grace we are saved — that it is God 
who works in us both to will and to do of his good plea- 
sure — that it is through Christ strengthening us, we can 
do all things — that our sufficiency is of God ; still to have 
a clear view of our own state ; to repent, believe, and 
obey, we must remember that the grace of God is ready 
to assist us, if we do not wilfully reject it. And this is 
what renders unbelief and impenitency inexcusable ; 
because the sinner does not proceed from want of pow- 
er, but from stubborn unwillingness, God being ready to 
assist and help men in every duty. 

The principles which the holy Scriptures fix as a firm 
foundation, on which our reasonings and conclusions maj r 
rest, are clear, determinate, and obvious to the wayfa- 
ring man, unless he leave the highway of evident duty, 
and plunge himself into labyrinths which were no part of 
his original road. Instead of binding the minds of men 
by an unavoidable fate ; instead of compelling absolutely 
and inevitably ; instead of employing constraint and 
force to actions, in which men could be but mere pas* 
sive machines, the Scriptures hold forth all reasonable 
motives. They allow the use of means, and even en- 
join them ; they open a door of hope ; they show the 



OB OF ACTION* 231 

thing to be feasible ; they draw a visible line between 
the wicked upon earth, and the damned in hell ; they 
sound the silver trumpet of the Gospel in the ears of 
living men ; they preach repentance and remission of 
sins. Though they threaten, they exhort ; though the 
gate of mercy be strait, yet it is not shut. They ad- 
vise us to strive to enter, and promise an abundant en- 
trance into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ. 

To assist the weakest reader in his inquiries, it may 
be observed by way of illustration, that in the various 
operations of the mind, in which the influence of the will 
is concerned, we are usually sensible of the solicitation 
of some motive, more gentle or more powerful ; some 
end in view — the gratification of some propensity or 
affection — the indulgence of some inclination — or obe- 
dience to some dictate of reason, or of conscience. 
Here, religion produces the most powerful arguments or 
motives, whether we consider the truths to be believed, 
or the duties to be practised. The great business of 
our short and uncertain life on earth, is to prepare for 
another life, not subject to evil. We are called upon 
to give all diligence to make our calling and election 
sure. Where such offers are made by the lip of truth, 
ought we for a moment suspect deception ? 

Although these great and precious promises be pro- 
motive of a divine nature, prompt us to action, and in 
many cases direct the tenor of our actions, yet we never 
perceive that they impose upon the mind any necessary 
constraint in acting. The experience of every indivi- 
dual may be appealed to as a test of the truth of it. No 
speculative or abstracted deductions of reasoning, will 
ever be permitted to establish a conclusion in opposition 
to the simple and obvious perceptions of our own con- 
sciousness. We are conscious to ourselves that whe- 
ther Satan approach by open violence or secret trea- 
chery — suiting his temptations to the complexion of the 
individual — drawing men to evil under the appearance 
of good — hanging out false lights and colours — tempting 
gradually — asking but an inch, yet -intending a mile— - 
employing the excess of lawful things— -attempting to put 



232 FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN WILL 3 

men upon doing good from evil principles, or forbad 
ends, as praying, in order to receive the praise of men 
—we have it in our power, through the help of God. 
to resist him, steadfast in the faith. Faith may keep the 
fortress of the heart, and even drive the enemy from 
the field. 

On the other hand, whatever may be the tempta» 
lions of the enemy, however finely dressed out, and 
by whatever strength of motive they may be offered. 
as riches to poverty, ea«e to pain, and even life to one 
under sentence of death. Scriptural records furnish us 
with many remarkable instances, of individuals who 
were so steadfast and immoveable, that all the united 
powers of interest and pleasure, pain and death r were 
not able to shake their steadfastness^ We also find that 
when we ourselves are solicited, we are not only able 
to suspend acting, but also to act in a manner directly 
contrary to the attraction of the primary motive. 

After the numerous quotations already advanced, one 
might think it superfluous to superadd many more con- 
curring testimonies, which combine to show that the 
sentiment branded by Mr. P. with " Methodistical ab- 
surdity," was dictated from heaven, as well as profess- 
ed openly, as the firm belief of the Christian Church. 
Prophets and apostles frequently speak of that power in 
man termed free-wilL They declare that men must 
make a decisive choice of good or evil, life or death. 
They inform us that some choose the Lord for their God y 
while others refused and rebelled. That some returned 
back to Egypt, and some to folly. That the language of 
others amounted to, 'We will not have this man to reign 
over us. That Mary, the sister of Lazarus, chose the one 
thing needful. That the language of the Jews, when 
Pilate put the question, " Whom will ye (Jews) that I 
release unto you > Jesus or Barabbas ?" was no less, or 
otherwise, than, not this man, but Barabbas. 

The power of suspending, or of changing action, 
which the plainest individual feels that he possesses in 
all moral conduct, is a most positive proof that the mind, 
in acting, is not subject to the constraints of necessity : 
but, on the contrary, is perfectly free in yielding to per- 



OR OF ACTION. 233 

^uasive influence. Grace is sufficient for all sorts of 
duty. Christ is the author of eternal salvation to them 
that obey him. But there cannot be the guilt of diso- 
bedience, where obedience is impossible. The cove- 
nant of the Gospel, into which God has been pleased 
to enter with mankind, supposes that man is furnished 
with a gracious power of acceding to, and performing 
the conditions of it. While the benefit is ours, let all 
the glory be ascribed to God, the author and donor of 
all good. 

If we examine the gracious influence of religion, 
through the different stages of it, we must certainly con- 
nect the freedom of the will with it, to render it such an 
act or habit as God will approve of. " If thou doest well, 
shalt thou not be accepted?" The offering is " a free- 
will offering." U Choose ye, this day, whom ye will 
serve." " My son, give me thy heart." " Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." " When the 
word is quick and powerful, it pierces the heart." 
" There is a broken and a contrite heart." " He will 
give a heart of flesh." Surely God does not change the 
heart, or purify the heart, against the will of the indivi- 
dual, or in spite of him. 

It must be evident to every person of reflection, 
that the mind is possessed of a power of commencing* 
action, or of exerting the acts of its will, by the energy 
God has lodged within it. Though surrounded by an 
infinite variety of motives in the structure of the world, 
the state of society, and the propensities and inclina- 
tions of our own nature, it has power to choose among 
them at pleasure. It can even change, at the slightest 
command of its will, the train of motives which are pre- 
sent to its view. All this it does by the inherent, self- 
commanding power which God has lodged within it. 
Motives may incite and awaken the mind to action, but 
they are at the same time subject to the control of the 
mind. Hence the possibility of resisting even the in- 
fluence of the Holy Ghost — of closing the eyes at one 
time, the ears at another, and of hardening the heart 
also. 

If men had no freedom of will so that they could not 

£ * 



234 FBEEDOM OF THE HUMAN WIIX r 

move, must it not be equivalent to mockery and insula 
to advise them to come to the waters of life, and to? 
drink freely ? When the Lord of the vineyard asked 
the labourers who were waiting to be hired, " Why 
stand ye here all the day idle ?" They gave him a very 
plain answer, " because no man hath hired us." He 
who commands the work, will give the power. But to 
command sight where there are no eyes, or hearing 
where there are no ears, and this upon pain of present 
and eternal misery, must appear to be awfully severe. 
if not dreadfully cruel. 

The doctrine which binds man down to a conduct in 
which he has no free choice, but is a mere log or ma- 
chine, is calculated to plunge him either into a false se- 
curity, or everlasting despair. If man, as a probation- 
ary creature, cannot take a single step in the way of 
salvation, till irresistible grace compel him, he must livr 
in sin until such a period shall arrive. Whereas, the 
plan of heaven is, " Now is the accepted time, and this 
is the day of salvation." 

The rigorous supporters of the absolute scheme, 
can hardly help seeing how horrible it must be to every 
good and generous man, as w r ell as painful to the ten- 
der feelings of the heart, by perceiving that thousands 
of sincere and upright individuals have already, as 
well as whole congregations, relaxed from the rigorous 
to the moderate professors of this system. They ac- 
knowledge that the Gospel plan is so far from depriving 
men of the liberty of resolving to be on the Lord's 
side, that it pronounces them happy only while they 
continue in this temper. If they seek the Lord while 
he may be found, and call upon him while he is near, 
he will hear from heaven, and finally bring them 
thither. 

On a survey of the motives before him, man can re 
solve and choose, preferring one side, and rejecting the 
other. This resolution is what is called the will or 
decision, in which he acts as one who has the power 
to resolve on either side, and not like a slave, who can 
act only in one way. Almost every individual may 
recollect instances 5 in w r hich he has not only done what 



OR Of ACTION 235 

he willed or desired ; but of his resisting strong mo- 
tives even to sensuality, ambition, or revenge. Many 
have given a decided preference to duty, under every 
possible discouragement, which loss of character, liber- 
ty, and even of life itself could inflict. A plain proof 
that they held the key and formed the decision, 

The Gospel is not a mere system of dry, specula- 
tive truths, unconnected with the conversion of the 
soul, or the regulation of the moral conduct. By a 
gradation of high discoveries which it manifests ; by a 
succession of interesting objects which it places in our 
view, it encourages and assists us to look upward for 
grace and mercy ; to elevate the mind, purify the af- 
fections, and to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Man has a free will which he can exert, in a sense 
entirely opposite to mechanism. He can take either 
side, as he makes the choice or forms the resolution . 
Suppose him tempted to the commission of a crime i~ 
his motive to commit it is the love of money, or the grati 
tication of appetite : his motive to abstain is a regard 
to duty or to reputation. Suppose him to weigh these 
motives in his mind for an hour, a da} r , a week, or a 
month : and suppose, that during this space, no addi- 
tional consideration occurs to him on either side : 
which may ber supposed, because it is possible — While 
his mind is in this state, the motives remain precisely the 
same ; and yet it is to me inconceivable, that he should 
at any time during this space, feel himself under a ne- 
cessity of committing the crime. He is indeed under 
a necessity, either to do or not to do : but every man 
in such a case, feels he has it in his power to choose 
the one or the other side. 

But what shall we think of Piscator, who, instead of 
reproving an evil choice, avers in the most open man- 
ner, and without any delicacy of reserve, that " men 
cannot possibly help the choice the}^ make in any one 
particular.' 1 And as if this were not enough, he assures 
us, that " We can do no more good than we do, nor leas 
evil, because God, from all eternity, decreed that both 
the good and the evil should be done, and gave the 



236 FREEDOM OP THE HUMAN WILL. 

bias to them, which could not possibly be avoided. 1 
Now, if the will be irresistibly determined by the Om- 
nipotent, what must we think of his charge, " Ye will 
not come to me that ye may have life," and many others 
of like import ? 

Suppose two men, when tempted to commit a crime^ 
io yield to the temptation, and to be differently affect- 
ed by a review of their conduct ; the one repining at 
fate or providence, for having placed him in too tempt- 
ing a situation ; the other blaming himself for yielding 
to the bad motive ; I would ask, which of these two 
kinds of remorse is more rational ? The first, accord- 
ing to the doctrine of the fatalists : the last, according 
to the universal opinion of mankind. Will Mr. P. 
aver, that God placed the first human pair in too tempt- 
ing a situation, and that its influence was irresistible ? 
Or will he say, that sin, in general, springs from the 
application of baits and hooks, equally successful, but 
laid by the hand of God to catch unwary souls ? He 
must acknowledge this, if there be no power of choo- 
sing or refusing in man ; but at all times, and on every 
occasion acting as he is stimulated by irresistible fate. 
On this principle, how could men be justly chargeable 
with " resisting the Holy Ghost ?" 

No divine, or moralist, ever supposes true penitence 
to begin, until the person be duly conscious that he 
himself is in the fault, either by doing the wrong, or 
neglecting the right ; a sentiment which would be ab- 
solutely false, if all persons believed, that the evil 
which is done could not have been prevented. When- 
ever a man can be fully satisfied, that God, by an in- 
evitable decree, has brought him into the evil, he ma}' 
bewail himself, or repine at fortune, but this is no re- 
pentance. The language of true remorse is, <k I wish 
the deed had never been done : wretch that I was, not 
to have resisted the temptation I" The language of the 
prodigal was, " Father, J have sinned against heaven 
and before thee." The publican's prayer was, <k God ? 
be merciful to me a sinner " Neither of these peni- 
tents attaches any blame to circumstances, or to God. 
All ths different confessions of sin on record in the. 



OR OF ACTION. 237 

holy volume, accuse the sinner, and acquit the provi- 
dence of God. 

Will Mr. P. undertake to say, that the true penitent 
supposes himself to have been under an absolute ne- 
cessity of doing in every particular as he has done, 
and that his conduct could not possibly have been 
otherwise ? Surely, every individual of any possible 
claim to discernment or experience, is a competent 
judge of this matter. Has not deep regret been often 
the feeling and language of his soul ? Why then multi- 
ply words, when by facts it is easy to determine the 
controversy ? 4; I have sinned," or " We have sinned, 5 ' 
is the general language of Scriptural confession, 
Hence, " they were cut to the heart — they smote upon 
the breast — they humbled themselves — they repented 
in dust and ashes — they wept — they exclaimed — they 
accused and condemned themselves." 

Are liberty and necessity so absolutely blended as 
to become one principle ? Surely, where prejudice 
does not pointedly resist and refuse the light, the ar* 
guments in favour of liberty are quite satisfying. And 
notwithstanding the subtleties of those who take the 
opposite side of the question, a full confidence must be 
reposed on that consciousness of liberty, which every 
man feels in his own breast. The most simple and 
virtuous part of mankind, are enemies to fatality in 
their hearts ; and altogether unwilling to charge a just> 
a holy, and merciful God, with all the sins which men 
commit, or to discharge men from the blame of them, 

To believe all actions to be unavoidable, is to be- 
lieve that man is not an accountable being, and therefore 
under no law. Or if he be supposed a moral agent, of 
what use is that name when he is under absolute influ= 
ence, and compelled to act as he does in every par- 
ticular ? Moral agency implies at least, that we can do 
some things, and abstain from others. But if every 
intention and act be fixed by eternal and immutable 
laws, it is as absurd to say to one, "You ought to behonest 
to-morrow." as to say, " You ought to stop the motion 
of the planets." Both are equally out of the power 
of the person. The Scriptures suppose no such lies 



238 FREEDOM OP THE HUMAN WILL, 

Or stumbling-block in the way of duty. Hence " Cease 
to do evil : learn to do well — Seek the Lord," kc> 
are the divine commands. 

Unless some events depend upon our determination, 
the terms ought, and ought not, have no meaning when 
applied to us. Why should it be made incumbent upon 
us by a righteous Being, to do what we ought, if there 
be no power to do the right, or to avoid what we ought 
not to do, if we be void of the power to forbear ? As 
well may it be said, " the fire ought not to burn the 
elegant mansion ; the powder ought not to spring the 
mine ; the sword ought not to decapitate ;" as to say 
that a passive hum m machine ought scrupulously to 
observe good conduct. This very necessary distinc- 
tion is well observed in that excellent confession, k% We 
have done the things which we ought not to have done 9 
and we have left undone the things which we ought to 
have done." 

Our liberty, freedom of will, or moral agency, far- 
ther implies, that we are accountable creatures. If 
we persevere in doing evil, or in neglecting good, we 
deserve blame, and are liable to punishment. So far 
is the great Ruler from plunging us into misery, or 
telling us that it is unavoidable, that he employs every 
appeal to affection, interest, well-being, fear, and hope^ 
to rouse us from being supine in this great business, 
and to prevail on us to fly from the wrath to come. 

How different is the fierce, though zealous language 
of Zuinglius ! His creed is, " When God makes angels 
or men sin, he does not sin himself, because he does 
not break any law. For as God is under no law, he 
can break no law." Now for men, under the name of 
Christians, to publish to the world a system, by which 
God himself can be employed in contriving and com- 
pelling men into all sorts and degrees of sin, and at the 
same time openly charge the whole upon themselves, 
argues no. small degree of blind dedication to a scheme, 
which they are determined to support, to the prejudice 
of conscience, reason, and Scripture. The appeal of 
Christ to paternal affection, silences for ever such an 
attempted imputation. If ye (men) being evil, be 



an of action, 239 

addressed by a son, will ye give either the useless or the 
hurtful ? How then can ye impute to the heavenly 
Father, to create for eternal misery, and help this 
dreadful end by all successful means ? 

Conscience must inform Mr. P. that he is accounta- 
ble for actions that are in his power ; while it neither 
blames nor approves what is not the effect of choice, 
but of necessity. Let man be once convinced, that all 
his actions are unavoidable, and his conscience is 
silenced for ever. If all action be inevitable, then all 
circumspection is unnecessary, and all remorse absurd. 
Can any principle be of more fatal consequence to so- 
ciety in general, than to believe that the dictates of 
conscience are false, unreasonable, or insignificant? 
Yet this is one certain effect of becoming an absolute 
predestinarian or fatalist. On this principle, " our 
rejoicing is no longer to be the testimony of our con- 
science, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, we have 
our conversation in the world." 

If every thing be so settled and adjusted, that it 
must come to pass, in spite of all caution and vigilance, 
then why does our heavenly Friend bid us watch and 
pray, to avoid entering into temptation ? Why does he 
tell us, that " we have not, because we ask not ?" To 
encourage supplication for others also, we are assured, 
that as we have one God, so we have one Mediator 
between God and man, that is, all mankind, whose 
office is to reconcile heaven and earth. 

When a man's understanding is so far perverted by 
debauchery, as to make him imagine his crimes una- 
voidable, he begins to think them innocent, and deems 
it a sufficient apology, that he is no longer a free, but a 
necessary agent. The drunkard pleads his constitu- 
tion ; the blasphemer urges the invincible force of 
habit ; and the sensualist would have us believe that his 
appetites are too strong to be resisted. Suppose all 
men equally perverted. Licentiousness, misery, and 
desolation would become irremediable and universal. 
If God intended that men should be happy, he certainly 
intended also, that men should believe themselves free, 
moral, and accountable creatures. Though a change* 



240 FREEDOM OP THE HUMAN WILL, 

of habit, or confirmed custom, be a thing which has no 
small difficulty attached to it, yet difficulty is not im- 
possibility. The human soul is susceptible of a purifi- 
cation in the laver and furnace of regeneration. Old 
things may become new in Christ. 

So far are men from being under irresistible compul- 
sion, that not an individual but must perceive that he is 
a free agent in his moral character. Now to reconcile 
this freedom of choice and action, with a secret decree, 
operating irresistibly upon our choice, is perfectly im- 
possible. There is no truth of which every man is 
more certain than this ; that he has within him a self- 
determining principle, and that if he were irresistibly 
forced to act, he could not be a free agent, and therefore 
not accountable for his conduct. To demand improve- 
ment without a talent, or ability, would not be accordant 
with the plan of Divine Providence. 

Are not the words, " I will" — " I choose" — " I will 
not" — " I refuse," (which are in everybody's mouth, 
in their plain meaning,) a convincing proof that such a 
power is lodged with man, and to that degree which an- 
swers all reasonable ends ? And if such a power as 
choice, liberty, or free will be possessed, it must be 
altogether the reverse of necessity. If I freely choose 
to do evil, is it not evident that I have a liberty not to 
commit that crime ? If a man were in prison, a willing- 
ness to continue there would not make him free, unless 
together with that willingness, he had a power to go 
out if he pleased. The powers which are given to the 
human soul are immense. " It may not only awake 
and arise from the dead, and see the light of the glory 
of God in the face of Jesus Christ ; but it may shut the 
eye, and close the ear against God, and shut the gate of 
mercy against itself." 

Unless a free choice be the privilege of man, he 
cannot justly be brought to judgment hereafter. For if 
the minds of men be not free to choose either death or 
life, but inevitably bound over before they were bonK 
the business is done already, and every thing is so surety 
iaxed that nothing can shake or unfix it. But this is so 
far from being the sentiment of Scripture, that it bids us 



Oil OF ACTION* 24a 

*' Prepare to meet our God — -to give all diligence to make 
our calling and election sur£." 

Besides depriving men of power to choose the Lord 
for our God, what can be more unfriendly to human fe- 
licity, than speculations about destiny and fatalism, pro- 
ductive only of gloom and despair ? For what can be a 
more uncomfortable and melancholy doctrine, than that 
of the already finished and everlasting destiny of every 
individual of the human race, which he cannot possibh 
escape by any exertions of his own ? Does not such a 
stern decree, running so far ahead of any guidance found 
in Scripture, not only weave the spider's web, but hatch 
the cockatrice's egg, from which no good is to be ex- 
pected, but rather a great deal of evil ? 

Besides many other particulars in which mind differs 
from matter, one of the principal distinctions is, that it 
possesses the power of beginning action without being 
itself impelled by any extraneous impulse. Matter that 
is impelled by other matter, receives an impetus ac 
cording to the quantity and direction of the force with 
which it is impressed. Without the impression bl 
some external force, it is inert. But mind is essentially 
active : it is capable of beginning motion, and of com 
municating motion to other things, antecedently to the 
action of any force upon itself. It was the infinite and 
eternal mind which gave the universe its motions. If 
we can conceive of any order in the divine mind, power 
and wisdom must have been prior to any system of 
motives that could arise out of the arrangement of the 
universe. 

As an inherent, self-determining power, is essential 
to the Infinite Mind, by which he controls all the move- 
ments of the universe; so has he given to man, who is 
his image in this lower world, to possess a likeness to 
that power, in the control which he possesses over all 
the resolutions of his will, and the actions of his mind 
within, as weil as of his body externally. Hence man 
feels himself accountable to his Maker, not only for 
the evil actions which are finished, but also for the evil 
thoughts which were encouraged, or yielded to. Hence 

21 



242 FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN WILt^ 

the necessity of looking to God for instruction exam 
pie, and approbation. 

The divine Being always addresses his human crea- 
tures as perfectly free. " If ye be willing and obe 
dient— Why will ye die ?" In all disquisitions concern- 
ing the will, it ought to be laid down tis a primary 
principle, that it is free. It stands on the same footing 
with the clearest testimonies of sense and conscious- 
ness. Hence man is called upon to serve God with 
the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength ; hence an 
Inward affection is as necessary in religion, as an out 
ward deportment. 

The idea of absolute inability, but when impelled, 
must, in its evident tendency, destroy all moral dis- 
tinctions, and reduce human nature to an involuntary 
machine. But thanks be to God, we perceive that his 
care for human happiness contradicts this glaring error. 
The invincible feelings of liberty, every moment bring 
conviction or certainty, on this point, to the mind, 
Virtue and vice are more than names, invented for the 
use and convenience of society. There is a reality in 
pure and genuine religion, inspiring even joys unspeak- 
able. 

Is there any proposition more clear than this, that 
we are free in acting ? The clear and ultimate percep- 
tions of nature, are the foundations of all truth and cer- 
tainty in reasoning. When we do what is right, we 
are conscious to ourselves that we do only our duty- 
and reasonable service; When we do what is wrong, 
we are equally conscious that we do what we ought 
not, and what we might have avoided, if we employed 
the power we possessed as we ought. 

Freedom of mind in willing and choosing, is a prin- 
ciple of moral action which rises very high. It is a 
much more extensive power than merely controlling 
our general conduct. It extends to the moral ability of 
resisting our inclinations, and of correcting habits of 
thinking and acting, which may be in opposition to our 
duty or interest. Of this we need no other proofs than 
the obvious effects of moral culture. The most igno- 



OR OF ACTION. 243 

rant mind may be enlightened ; the most rude and un- 
cultivated taste refined ; and the most vicious disposi- 
tion reformed. The soul may, as it were, sit at the feet 
of Christ ; hear, understand, and feel his instructions : 
and be changed into the heavenly image from glory to 
glory. 

To meet the principle of moral liberty, God sends 
forth the message of the Gospel, presenting to the 
mind of man the true state of things, illuminating and 
directing it, in the free and proper exercise of its fa- 
culties and powers. The offers are universal : "He 
that believeth shall be saved." Nothing is compul- 
sive : " Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters." There is no restriction : " there being room 
enough, and to spare." 

It is true, when men allow violent passion to trans- 
form them, as it were ; when any inveterate prejudice 
or habit, has, in a manner, seized and incorporated 
itself with the soul, it becomes extremely difficult, and 
in some cases, almost impossible to effect a favourable 
change. But the ideas of difficulty and necessity are 
totally distinct. There may be a change " from dark- 
ness to light, and from the power of Satan to God." 
Though the beginning of the heavenly road may be 
difficult, yet, " they that wait upon the Lord shall re- 
new their strength ; they shall mount up with wings, as 
eagles : they shall run, and not be weary ; they shall 
walk, and not faint." And surely the increasing 
strength of all moral and religious habits, arising from 
time, improvement, and experience, is a powerful argu- 
ment against the fatalist and necessarian. 

Though a man of depraved affections is often blind to 
the proper view of religion, yet there are principles in 
his moral constitution, which lead him to approve of a 
degree of virtue beyond his own attain ments, and to 
perceive some faint rays of its beauty, before he is 
enamoured of its perfection. Here, then, we see a 
vantage ground io advance of actual attainment, on 
which moral and religious culture can take hold, to 
carry forward to an ulterior point, the first principles 
of religion. 



244 FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN WILL, &C. 

There is a striking analogy between the cultivation 
of morals and religion on the one hand, and art or 
science on the other. The rude, uncultivated mind, is 
blind to the finer beauties of improvement, as the im- 
moral heart is to the higher and more spiritual attain- 
ments of religion. The uncultivated mind prefers at 
first, a rude and coarse execution ; because it is not 
jet prepared to relish those of a higher order. Still* 
however, there are principles in the rudest mind, 
which by degrees give a perception of beauty, in ex- 
amples properly placed before it, greatly in advance 
of its present state of improvement. So likewise in 
religion, though a vicious, ungodly man may be far 
from being an Abel, an Enoch, a Noah, an Abraham, a 
Joseph, or a Daniel ; yet he cannot but approve of 
some shining traits in those characters, and wish, at 
least, that he may " die the death of the righteous, and 
have a latter end like his." 

These reflections must show the moral freedom of 
man, and the gracious power which God has given him 
over his own actions, to fulfil the duties required of 
him. Notwithstanding his present comparatively im- 
perfect condition, he may be assisted to advance in the 
career of moral and religious improvement, from 
strength to strength, and from grace to grace. This 
power of growing in grace, and in the knowledge and 
love of God, cannot but be divinely consoling to human 
nature, and overturn the foundation of all the gloomy 
speculations of absolute necessity and fatalism. 



(245) 



OF THE FREE GRACE OF GOD, A SAVING MEASURE 
OF WHICH IS BESTOWED UPON ALL MANKIND. 
BEING PURCHASED BY THE DEATH OF OUR LORD 
JESUS CHRIST. 

It is universally agreed, that the disorders inherent 
in human nature, can only be healed by the grace of 
God, which begins, advances, and completes in man, 
that which is acceptable to God. Those who favour 
the absolute scheme, assert, " that though all grace is 
from God, yet all grace, even from God, is not saving 
grace : which is given only to the elect, in whom it is 
efficacious." The Methodists, on better ground, assert. 
" that a saving measure of the grace of God is bestow- 
ed upon all men ; that it does not act irresistibly, but sua- 
sively, as a counsellor, adviser, or exhorter ; and that 
its gracious acts and overtures may be resisted." 

All allow 7 that God is the fountain of all grace ; every 
good and perfect gift coining down from the Father of 
lights. Of his fulness have w r e all received, and grace 
to answer all the ends of grace. He helpeth our infirmi- 
ties, and guides us in the way of truth. It must be 
allowed, therefore, that he excites, assists, and sup- 
ports, as well as exercises a gracious agency over the 
mind, in the great work of conversion. 
• Where it is said, that " He worketh in us all the good 
pleasure of his will," this is not to prevent or exclude 
the co-operation of man, who is called upon to ;i work 
out his own salvation, with fear and trembling." 
Where " Christ is exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to 
give repentance and remission of sins," we are called 
upon " to repent, and to be converted." Where faitil 
is acknowledged " to be the gift of God," it is acknow- 
ledged also to be " the act of man." The want of it 
is censured — the exertion of it is commanded — the ap- 
plication of it is commended, and rendered effectual to 
the saving of the soul. 

Sometimes it may please God to give a double mea^ 
21* 



246 FREE GRACE OF GOD f 

sure of his Holy Spirit. He can give two, or five, as 
well as one talent. He works on the minds of men, so 
as to convince the most obstinate : and if they will not 
yield to conviction, but continue in a state of stubborn 
contempt, he may justly withdraw his grace and Holy 
Spirit from them, leaving them to the bias of their own 
perverse and malicious minds. Though " Christ was 
sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet his 
people would none of him : so that when he came to 
his own, his own received him not," The power of 
the Lord was present to heal them, but the Pharisees 
murmured. They rejected the counsel of Godagainsl 
themselves. When Christ, by the power of God, cast 
out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God came unto 
ihem ; yet he did not many mighty works there, because 
of their unbelief. Must not such plain scriptural proofs 
show the candid and unbiassed mind, that while divine 
grace is free to act, it nevertheless may be resisted, and 
even withdrawn ? 

God gives his Holy Spirit : but it is to them that ask 
him. The Holy Spirit still concurs with the Gospel 
in working upon the minds of men to excite and assist 
them to that which concerns their peace. And though 
this operation be secret, yet the effects of it are very 
sensible upon all minds, even upon the Heathen, who 
have not an outward law, being a law to themselves, 
by an operation of the Holy Spirit influencing the soul, 
and exciting condemnation or approbation according to 
the moral circumstances of the individual. 

The Methodist, who contends for the universality of 
saving grace, contends also that a grace which is incom 
petent to salvation, is no grace, but is altogether un 
worthy of the name and characters of that divine influ- 
ence. He remarks also, that the plain and more obvi- 
ous sense of Scripture is on his side. The grace of 
God is generally spoken of as applicable to all mankind. 
\nd he argues from this, that if in contrariety to gene- 
ral offers explicitly made, and which every man may 
claim as he reads or hears men put in a secret reserve ; 
thevi ought to be very luminous evidence of an invisi 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 247 

ble hand of God, subducting what his visible and open 
hand has bestowed. 

That the influence and assistance which God is 
pleased to afford, do not excuse men from their neces- 
sary co-operation, is very evident. God is willing 
that all should come to repentance — He upbraided the 
cities because they repented not — I gave her space to re- 
pent, and she [Jezebel) repented not — Preach that men 
should repent*— He repented in dust and ashes — The 
people of Nineveh repented — See how Ahab humbleth 
himself. Though the eye and ear be God's gifts ; yet 
if man wilfully close the eye or ear, he can with no 
face of reason, expect that God will see or hear for 
him. 

Before the dispensation of the Gospel was revealed 
to the world, the grace of God which brought salva- 
lion, embraced Jews and Gentiles. Such as sincerely 
endeavoured to know and do the will of God to the 
best of their means and capacities, were not left des- 
titute of the divine assistance. Though propensities 
to evil may appear in the human constitution, yet that 
grace which brings salvation, teaches to deny ungodli* 
ness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, and righte- 
ously, and godly, in this present world. Under the 
Gospel dispensation there is a double measure of grace 
afforded, so that whosoever sins wilfully, is not an of- 
sender for want of power. 

The grace of God intends the present renovation 
and eternal salvation of the soul. It comprehends all 
spiritual blessings, as conviction for sin, repentance > 
and pardon. It extends to the renewing and sanctifying; 
influences of the Holy Spirit; including also the far- 
ther supplies of divine assistance, direction, and com- 
fort : finally sealing such as hold out in the good way 
to the end. The grace of God is the fountain and 
spring of all this good. And therefore not unto us. 
though we he convinced ever so deeply, or repent 
ever so sincerely, or believe ever so heartily, but to 
God be all the glory for ever. 

The gracious covenant of the Gospel, necessarily 
presupposes such a measure of grace or power afford- 



248 FREE GRACE OF GOD. 

ed to us, as is sufficient for performing the conditions 
of it ; otherwise it must leave us in as bad a condition 
as it found us, because it would only offer new blessings, 
without making the attainment of them possible ; and 
even make our state worse, by bringing us under new 
guilt, in our not performing the conditions upon which 
such gracious offers were suspended. 

If it should be replied, that some few persons, at 
least, have great benefit by it, because they, by an es- 
pecial and effectual grace, shall be enabled to perform 
the conditions of this covenant, I ask, is not this an 
ungenerous straitening of the grace and mercy of the 
Gospel, to confine it within so narrow a compass as 
still to leave the greater part of mankind in a worse 
condition than if grace had never been offered to 
them ? Can a doctrine be true which supposes the 
guilt and punishment of men to be greatly heightened 
by rejecting it, when it was not possible for those men 
to obey it, or to receive any good from it? 

To state all the passages of Scripture, which are 
dear on the doctrine of free and saving grace, would be. 
to transcribe a great part of the sacred volume. The 
Methodists contend, that there is not an admonition, 
an expostulation, a reproof, a precept, a promise, or a 
threatening, but what is predicated on the truth of their 
opinion, which, on any other ground, would be either 
deception or mockery : deception, if the party inter- 
ested were informed of the apparent benefit, but kept 
in ignorance of the drawback; and mockery, if, as is 
supposed in the instance at issue, both the offer and the 
restraint were made known to him in the same heavenly 
message. 

The grace of God is spoken of in such terms as are 
sufficient to remove all apprehensions respecting its 
freeness and sufficiency to answer all the purposes ot 
religion, and eternal salvation. It is ready and at hand, 
in sufficient measure to assist us to perform the gracious 
conditions of the Gospel, which are Repentance and 
Faith, as well as all the purposes of a holy and useful 
life : if we be not wanting to ourselves, by rejecting 
or neglecting to make use of it. This renders all the 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 249 

blessings of the Gospel effectual. Without it we could 
do nothing. By it we can do all things. 

The very term " Gospel" means " good news." It 
is good news to all those to whom it has been authori- 
tatively declared. And who are they ? u Repentance 
and remission of sins were to be preached among all 
nations, beginning at Jerusalem." "All nations" do 
not signify " some of every nation." This would de- 
stroy the whole spirit of the mission. The Gospel is 
preached to all men : therefore it must be allowed to 
make an offer to all, whether the offer be accepted or 
rejected. 

The Scriptures of truth, instead of declaring that 
God has put the black mark of an everlasting decree 
upon nine-tenths of the human race, millions of ages 
before they were born, and confounding power with 
right in the Supreme Being, and averring, that because 
he has power to predestinate any portion of his crea- 
tures to eternal misery, he has the just right to do so^ 
'than which nothing would be more false, as w r ell as 
unjust) pronounce, that "God is willing that all should 
be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth/ 1 
and that he contrives the ruin of no man. 

The sufficiency of divine grace as afforded to all, 
must render unbelief and impenitency inexcusable ; 
as not proceeding from want of power, but from free, 
yet stubborn choice. Without this divine help, the 
revelation of the Gospel, though never so clear, would 
signify nothing ; all precepts and directions relative to 
an upright conduct, and even the most vehement per- 
suasions to obedience, could have no force in them, 
For what would it signify to direct the dead, or to 
speak to the deaf? 

When to the express invitation, there were excuses 
made ; of one, that he had " bought a farm ;" of ano- 
ther, that he had " bought five yoke of oxen," and of 
another, thnt he had "married a wife, and therefore 
could not come," they are all of them considered as 
invited and bidden by the Master, in the sincerest man- 
ner. If not, why does our Lord complain — " Ye will 
not come to me that ye may have life ?" And why does 



250 FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

he mourn over Jerusalem, saying— "How often would 
I have gathered thy children together ?" And to the 
language of complaint and censure for not coming, why 
does he add that of wo and misery also ? 

Though fallen as the offspring of Adam, yet we have 
a principle of spiritual life through Christ, our second 
Head, who directs and overrules us through all the 
stages of life. Even the infantile and youthful capacity 
is restrained from evil, and inclined to good. Can it 
militate with the doctrine of free grace to say, that a 
measure of it is afforded to each by the hand of a be- 
neficent God, through the redemption that is in Christ? 
Our consolation is, that we also are the offspring of our 
Heavenly Father. A conviction of this must furnish 
the youthful mind with sure grounds of trust and confi- 
dence, and establish the pleasing conviction, that 
God's favour is their highest interest, and within the 
reach of their attainment. 

When our Lord and Saviour had lain down the pre- 
cepts of inward and outward holiness, to encourage his 
hearers to the attainment of it, he assures them that 
God assists all those who are sincerely desirous to do 
his will, if they earnestly implore his help. " Ask, 
and it shall be given, seek, and ye shall find." So that 
if any person fail of the grace and assistance of God's 
Holy Spirit, it must be through his own fault, and for 
want of earnestly seeking it. 

The invitations of the Gospel carry a generous sin- 
cerity written upon them, as — " Come unto me all ye 
that labour and are heavy laden." Surely this invita- 
tion is not given to those that cannot come. Where a 
man has real sorrow for sin, and a considerable tender- 
ness of mind, directing his view to the consolations of 
the Gospel, present desire can furnish evidence to the 
person that he has an interest in the promises made to 
genuine penitence. 

By the Gospel dispensation, God seems to have 
gone to the very extremity of things, in afflicting inno- 
cency itself to save the guilty. How justly might he 
say, What more could I have done ? And if his hatred 
to sin, as well as his love to the human race, be carried 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 5251 

to the highest pitch, in making him a curse for as, to 
redeem us from the curse of a broken law, we cannot 
possibly attribute to him any thing ungenerous, at the 
time when he unveils the amazing plan of the redemp- 
tion of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ. That 
Christ should not only die for the sins of the world, but 
command remission of sins to be published in his name 
to all people, must be utterly incompatible with a pre- 
destinating decree which excludes the majority. 

In the parable of the Talents, he intrusts every man 
according to his capacity. God is infinitely beforehand 
with man, affording him advantages and opportunities of 
becoming truly happy, and furnishing such a measure 
of grace or spiritual help to that purpose, as if faith- 
fully improved on earth, the good Master shall approve 
of, and reward in heaven. 

Resistance offered to the Spirit of God, is directly 
affirmed in many places. " Grieve not the Holy 
Spirit of God, 55 Ephes. iv. 30. If we conceive of the 
divine government in a similar manner to that in which 
we conceive of the human, sin must be a resistance of 
the governance of the divine Spirit i and if his gra- 
cious influence may be resisted in a degree, and for a 
time, why not fully and finally ? Iniquity is as the let- 
ting out of water. Commencements are to be guarded 
against. One resolution of the Jews was, " We will 
not have this man to reign over us, 5 ' and then another 
followed, "His blood be upon us and our children. ,5 

The gracious promises of the Gospel are so many 
assurances of the grace of God with us. Hence the 
apostle exhorts us to endeavour after the highest de~ 
grees of universal holiness. " Having these promises, 
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthi- 
ness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear 
of the Lord,' 5 2 Cor. vii. 1. The consideration of 
God's readiness to assist us, and of his grace, which 
is always at hand to incite our wills to that which is 
good, and to strengthen us in doing it, ought to be a 
great argument to us to co-operate with the grace of 
God. 

Nothing on God's part hinders our present and eter 



252 

nal salvation. He has solemnly declared that he de- 
sires it, and that he is ready to assist us in it. When 
he tells us that " He has no pleasure in the death of a 
sinner," he certainly means what he says, without dis* 
guise or mental reservation. If the promise and invita- 
tions declare that there is no impediment on God's part, 
why should we charge him with a duplicity of character, 
in holding out the false lights of promises, if he him- 
self had beforehand rendered the thing absolutely im- 
possible ? 

In 1 Thess. v. 19, the language of genuine exhorta- 
tion is— " Quench not the Spirit." The Holy Spirit is 
represented as a fire, because it is his province to en- 
lighten and quicken the soul, and to purify and refine it. 
This Spirit is represented as being quenched. When 
evil acts are done, evil words spoken, or evil tempers 
indulged. This conduct will quench it so as to cause it 
to withdraw its influences, and then the heart is left in 
a state of hardness and darkness. Then is the Spirit 
quenched, and the light become darkness. 

Rev. iii. 20, states, "Behold, I stand at the door and 
knock ; if any man hear my voice and open the door, 1 
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with 
me." It is well remarked by Calvinists, and by others 
on this passage, that it puts off all pretence of any thing 
being done by the will of man, without the grace of 
God preventing, or going before. But surely it teaches 
with equal clearness, that compliance or resistance rests 
with man. That though the Omnipotence of God can 
accomplish what he wills, yet God's high pleasure has 
established the system of human affairs on a principle 
which takes in the will of man, as well as the influence 
of divine grace. God will save no man against his will. 

While the Holy Scriptures every where ascribe our 
regeneration and sanctirication to God ; while they give 
him the praises of our commencement, progress and 
final perseverance in the religious course ; while they 
acknowledge that we are born again of the Spirit ; thai 
we are sanctified by the Holy Ghost ; that we are 
led by the Spirit in the ways of God ; and that we are 
kept by the mighty power of God, through faith unto 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 253 

salvation ; they nevertheless enjoin on us a faithful use 
of the grace and assistance of the Holy Spirit. They 
advise us to give all diligence, to add to our faith virtue, 
knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly 
kindness, and charity. 

If there be such a thing as universal grace, which 
God confers on all, how can there be an unavoidable 
decree which puts even the supreme God under cer- 
tain restrictions, and absolutely obliges him to do as he 
does in every particular, even the minutest? If the 
grace of God be a favour, which he is obliged to bestow, 
it hardly deserves the name of donation, grant, or lar- 
gess. That cannot be a bounty which we are obliged 
to confer. Now to stop up the innumerable streams of 
divine goodness, in order to keep an unmeaning decree 
in credit, must be a very great disparagement to the 
ways of that God, whose mercy is over all his works. 

Whatever we possess of grace, we owe to God : 
• ; Every good gift., and every perfect gift, is from above 
and cometh down from the Father of lights." So also 
I Cor. iv. 7 — '* Who maketh thee to differ from ano- 
ther ? and what hast thou, that thou didst not receive ?" 
The prominent fruit of it, also, we owe to God : Eph< 
ii. 8 — " By grace ye are saved, through faith ; and that 
not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God." Where the 
Scriptures make use of the term grace, or the grace of 
God, the Calvinistic system undertakes to offer violence 
to the grammar, to prove that it means " irresistible 
grace." 

That cannot be said to be wholly out of a man's 
power, which he may have for asking ; or which he 
is able to do by the strength and assistance of another. 
Surely the apostle did not in the least derogate from 
the grace of God, when he said, "1 am able to do all 
things, through Christ strengthening me." He reckons 
himself able to do all that, which, by the strength of 
Christ, he was enabled to do. What the grace of God 
is ready to enable us to do, if we be not wanting to our- 
selves, may be said to be, in a warrantable sense, hi 
our power. 

22 



t^ 



254 FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

The commands of God, which are inconsistent with 
an irresistible decree, are, at the same time, a proof 
that he gives us a sufficiency of grace to conform to 
them. Had God given us laws, but no power to keep 
them, his commands indeed would be grievous. It is 
true, we have contracted a great measure of weakness, 
by our being the descendants of Adam ; but the grace 
which the Gospel brings us through Christ, is altogether 
sufficient to answer every possible injunction laid upon 
us. He gives us assistance proportionate to the diffi- 
culties of our circumstances. 

That faith is the gift of God, is by no means denied. 
And yet the exertion of this principle being command- 
ed, it becomes the duty of man. To assent to the 
truths of God, as revealed in his holy word ; to consent 
to the conditions of salvation, in repenting and be- 
lieving the Gospel, and to rely on the great atonement 
offered for the whole world, is the perfect and good 
will of God concerning us. This is the true ground of 
all persuasions to holiness and obedience, which would 
be, not only to no purpose, but very unreasonable, if 
we were entirely destitute of the grace of God, or 
power to do what God commands. But if he be always 
ready to assist us, with a grace sufficient for us, then 
there is an abundant encouragement to our endeavours. 
When God is pleased to allow the Sun of righteousness 
to shine upon us, why should we allow our views to 
continue dim, or gloomy ? 

All the help that is necessary is promised, in this 
great work of the Lord. The good Spirit of God will 
be more ready to encourage the weak, and help them 
forward, than the great enemy to retard them. Nay, 
the ministering spirits who are for us, and sent forth to 
minister to the heirs of salvation, will exercise a greater 
power in promoting our good, than evil angels, in their 
attempts to injure us. But then we are to keep in 
mind, that this assistance is offered to men, and gra- 
ciously afforded to them, but not forced upon them. If 
we even refuse to make a right use of our one talent, 
we run a risk of losing it. Nay, if after commencing 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 255 

well, and going on regularly for some time, we wilfully 
slacken our progress, or turn aside, we forfeit the di- 
vine aids. 

No passage has oftener been quoted, than Acts xvi. 
14. — " And a certain woman, named Lydia, a seller of 
purple, of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, 
heard us : whose heart the Lord opened, that she at- 
tended to the things which were spoken of Paul.' 5 
What is there like irresistible grace, in the conversion 
of the character here introduced ? She was already " a 
worshipper of God," being probably a proselyte of the 
gate. Surely the gentle and suasive motion of grace, 
under which she had lived for some indefinite time, is 
a cause sufficient to account for the effect of a ready ear 
given to the doctrine of Christ, and to the evidence of 
the divine commission of those who preached it. This 
exemplary woman was under the influence of the Spirit 
of God, before she heard the preaching of St. Paul: 
and therefore, nothing here said, is to the purpose of 
irresistible grace, in her conversion. What must we 
think of Mr. P.'s horrible idea of God's free grace, and 
free acts, page 42. — " We consider all mankind as sin- 
ners, who deserve punishment for their sins. God is 
free, as a ruler (a just judge,) to punish whom he will 
for those sins, and also free to bestow his favour, or 
grace, on whom he will, (the remainder in exactly the 
same circumstances,) by giving them what true Protes- 
tants term effectual calling." Can a father be at 
liberty, in perfect consistency with the parental affec- 
tion, to enrich one half of his children, and to hew in 
pieces the other half, though their circumstances be 
identically the same ? 

As God is pleased to co-operate with man in the 
great work of salvation, then there is abundant ground 
of encouragement to our endeavours ; and if we fall 
short of eternal salvation, it must be altogether our 
own fault ; it is not because God is wanting to us in the 
aids and energies of his grace, which are necessary ; 
but because we are wanting to ourselves, in not seeking 
the grace of God more earnestly, or by neglecting to 
nse it faithfully, when afforded to us. Instead of making 



256 FREE GRACE OF GOB ? 

man a free agent of God, in the great business of 
salvation, Mr. P. unites in one mass the following par- 
ticulars : " total depravity, election before faith, effec- 
tual calling, perseverance in good works, and final sal- 
vation, as built on the same basis," pp. 42, 43. By 
this he would mean to say, that il whenever a man has 
one gracious thought, or begins well, he must positive- 
ly continue well, and end well — When he enters the 
field, he must become a conqueror — Whenever he 
commences the race, he must win the crown — When- 
ever one comes out of Egypt, he must enter Canaan. 5 
These are gross errors. 

Though it be granted, that of ourselves we can do 
nothing : that it is by grace we are saved ; that it ie 
God who works in us, both to will and do what is good ; 
that it is through Christ strengthening us we can do all 
things : still we must remember that we are not to bury 
our talents, or to become foolish virgins, or wicked and 
slothful servants, under an apprehension that we could 
not improve our talents, but to the discredit of the mas- 
ter. The grace of God anoints our eyes with eye- 
salve, to see our condition : the Spirit softens the heart.. 
to excite the tear and sigh of repentance, as well as to 
help us to believe and to obey. This is that which 
renders wilful unbelief, and stubborn impemtency, in- 
excusable. Free grace, according to Mr. P^ page 43, 
is. " when God gives a will to one person, which he 
denies to another." Mr. P. does not seem to be a be- 
liever in the Gospel system, which declares, that " the 
will of God tr, that all may be saved, and come to the 
knowledge of the truth! " 

If we suppose, that men in general are altogether inca- 
pable of the influence of divine grace, how can we think 
the Heavenly Teacher himself could be serious in his 
exhortations to repentance, his expectations of it, and 
his complaining of the impenitency of sinners ? God 
justly expects it, because by his grace afforded to every 
man in sufficient measure, he may repent. Exhortations 
are afforded to answer this good and valuable end. It 
must be by our obduracy that we render them vain, 
and of no effect. All things are stated to be ready qd 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 257 

the side of God, the great author and finisher of faith. 
God is rich in mercy ; Christ died for our sins. The 
energies of the Spirit are ready to help our infirmities. 
There is a sufficiency of room in the household of 
faith. And to crown the whole, an invitation is sent to 
all, and " he that wills may come." Mr. P. denies 
that man can k4 will or determine." To deny the 
power of choice to man, when God makes an offer, is 
to deny that the eye can see when light is afforded, 
or that the ear can hear, when sound rushes on it, or 
that the mind can think, when an easy and pleasant 
subject offers itself to its consideration. He particu- 
larly finds fault with Mr. Wesley, for holding the Scrip- 
tural doctrine, that man possesses, through the redemp- 
tion of Christ, " a liberty and power to accept of prof- 
fered salvation," page 44. He means by this to in- 
sinuate, that though man may be a sinner through Adam,, 
he cannot, even through the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, repent, believe, or obey, or be any thing but a 
mere passive instrument. Though the Methodists main- 
tain the necessity of the influence of the Holy Spirit 
upon the minds of men, yet they believe this Spirit may 
be grieved and withdrawn. 

When Christians are said to be begotten or born of 
God, those terms are employed to express the sanctity 
of the Christian calling, affecting the community of 
Christians ; and in this respect, no stronger language is 
used than there had been concerning the former chosen 
people. Sometimes it expresses the renovation of the 
heart. Here it must be repeated, that it is highly im- 
proper to give to Scriptural metaphors an interpreta- 
tion, that implies a production of new powers, and that 
man is as passive in his second creation as in his first, 
Mr. P. is not aware how little he profits his argument 
by saying, page 45, that the Roman Catholics, believ- 
ing the Methodistical doctrine of a sufficiency of free 
grace given to every man to profit withal, must discre- 
dit it ; while he overlooks the other side, namely, that 
the Turks are joined with the Calvinists, in the doc- 
trine of rigid predestination. He is wrong also in his 
statement concerning the Romish Church ; for several 
22* 



38 FREE GfRACE OF GOD. 

professors of that Church were predestinarians, par- 
ticularly Austin, or Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in 
Africa. 

As God is so ready to assist us with his grace and 
Holy Spirit in the great business of salvation, the Apos- 
tie exhorts us, " Wherefore lift up the hands that hang 
down, confirm the feeble knees, and make straight paths 
for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of 
the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow after ho- 
liness without which no man shall see the Lord, looking 
diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God." He 
3hows in the plainest manner, that it is for want of care 
on our part, or of that necessary diligence which God 
requires, that we lose the grace of God, not allowing if 
to be effectual to all the purposes of repentance, faith> 
and holiness, which was his great design in bestowing it. 
God does not withold his grace from us : but men ma) 
aot make a proper use of it. This may be the case, 
when, if engrafted into Christ the living vine, they do 
not bear the expected fruit ; or because they turn back 
to Egypt ; or because they do not hold out to the end. 
Mr. Pelton has the effrontery to arraign the discipline 
of the Methodist Church, and with it not only the stan- 
dard of our common Christianity, but the general tenor 
of Holy Scripture; assuring his readers, pages 46, 47 : 
that such principles are not accordant frith protestant- 
ism, but with popery. Surely that protestantism must 
be but a mere name, or pretence, which will undertake 
to tell a man, that if once he be one of the elect he can 
never be lost. 

The discovery which the Gospel makes, is, that God 
was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. On 
this rests the great system of consolation which he has, 
established for the sure support of the hopes of men. 
We are not left to dubious and intricate reasonings con- 
cerning the conduct which God may evince towards his 
human creatures. When oppressed and dejected by a 
deep sense of the guilt of sin, and of its dreadful con- 
sequences, man is allowed, and even encouraged to look 
Up (however unworthy) with a most astonished eye, to 
the signals of divine naercy, which are too conspicuous 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 259 

to be either distrusted or mistaken. The apparent im- 
possibility is reduced to a difficulty, and the camel is 
made to pass through the eye of a needle. This is not 
a hypocritical offer, without any intention to make it 
good ; but a liberal plan of God's construction, and 
founded on the everlasting basis of his good will towards 
man. Mr. P. would make the good will of God to apply 
only to a few, (page 47,) and that unconditionally, 
Hence he tells us, " God has formed the person called 
after his name, for his glory." And again, when men 
are said to show forth his praise, Mr. P. remarks, the 
words are " they shall, and not they will," as if the ori- 
ginal alluded to some absolute energy, and not to the 
future time. On what principle can Mr. P. charge 
Methodism with ambition, because it magnifies the di- 
vine beneficence, " in giving to every man a portion of 
saving grace to profit withal." 

But here it may be asked, Are not men said to be 
* ; dead in trespasses and sins ?" are they not called on 
with " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the 
dead, and Christ shall give thee light ?" Answer: This 
very passage shows the danger of building doctrine on 
a strict adherence to the letter of a metaphorical dis- 
course. The same persons are said to be asleep in one 
part of the verse, and dead in the other. By a state of 
death he merely intends that in which we are as under 
the fall ; or a state of actual and repeated sins added to 
the former. We acknowledge that salvation is of grace, 
But surely this will never show, that the grace of God 
is not universal on the one hand, or that it is irresistible 
on the other. Mr. P. tells us, that " many are without 
this calling, even many wise men, and many mighty, "49. 
He alludes here to 1 Cor. i. 26. "For ye see your call= 
ing, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh, 
not many mighty, not many noble, are called." To this 
I reply, that the original does not express, as if God did 
not send his Gospel to the wise, and powerful, and noble; 
or that he did not will their salvation. The truth is, 
the Gospel has given an equal call to all classes of men; 
but the wise, the mighty, and the noble, are too busy, or 
too sensual, to pay any attention to an invitation so spiri.- 



260 

tual and so divine; and therefore there are few of these 
in the church of Christ, in general 

The Methodists are as ready as any other Church or 
body of professing Christians, to acknowledge Christ to 
be the author, promoter, and finisher of our faith; but at 
the same time avow it to be the repeated, and emphatical 
tenor of Scripture, that 4 'Christ is the author of eternal 
salvation to them that obey hiTi 5 " that is, to such, and 
only such, as cease to do evil, and learn to do well ; 
who repent and believe the Gospel. Some men seem 
to be so much afraid of the merit of obedience and 
good works, that they are loath to assert the necessity 
of them, and do it with as much caution, as if they appre- 
hended some dangerous consequences from it. But 
this fear is perfectly groundless. Any man may easily 
see the plainest difference between worthiness of desert 
on the one hand, and on the other the fitness of re- 
ceiving a penitent, broken-hearted rebel, who is sorry 
for what he has done. Though his sorrow cannot de- 
serve a pardon, yet he may thereby be qualified to 
receive it. Though repentance may not make him 
worthy, yet it may make him capable of it, which an 
obstinate rebel is not. This is a thing so plain in itself, 
that it is a waste of time to insist longer upon it. While 
Mr. P. excludes all conditions, as having any thing to 
do with our present or eternal salvation, the Apostle 
Paul will do it for him. God hath chosen you from 
the beginning, through sanctification of the Spirit, and 
belief of the truth, 2 Thess. ii. 53. Was this uncondi- 
tional ? The Jews considered themselves as the elect 
or chosen people. The apostle here shows that God 
had the Gentiles as much in the contemplation of his 
mercy and goodness as he had the Jews. To attain 
this election there were some conditions attached to the 
order of divine grace. They were to hear the truth, 
or doctrines of the Gospel. They were to believe this 
truth when they heard it preached. They were to 
receive the Spirit of God in believing the truth. That 
Spirit w T as to sanctify their souls; producing inward 
holiness and outward conformity to God. All this con- 
stituted a state of present or spiritual salvation, and 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 261 

fitted them for obtaining the glory of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, in the inheritance among the saints in light, 
But does the Apostle teil them that their state, however 
good, was unchangeable ? By no means. He adds. 
" Therefore, brethren, stand fast." Their obtaining 
eternal glory depended on their faithfulness to the grace 
of God. For their calling did not necessarily and irre- 
sistibly ensure their eternal salvation. At any of the 
stagesof their journey they might have halted, and never 
finished their Christian course. 

But Mr. Pelton will say ? If religion may be lost, does 
not this make grace a precarious thin:*, and the Gospel 
insufficient to ensure our salvation ? This is certainly 
a great mistake : for our Gospel ensures the salvation 
of that numerous part of mankind which enters the 
grave in a state of infancy. Besides this, it ensures a 
seed of redeeming and sanctifying grace to all mankind. 
as long as their day of grace or initial salvation lasts. 
For we maintain, with St. Paul, that 4t the free gift is 
come upon all men to justification of life." And we 
also assert with our Lord Jesus Christ, that of such 
(namely infants) is the kingdom of heaven. Add to 
this, that our Gospel ensures eternal salvation to all true 
believers who are faithful unto death. It is rather 
amazing that Mr, P. should forget the conditions at- 
tached to genuine piety. In page 48 he quotes Matt, 
xxv. 34, " Then shall the king say to those on his right- 
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
dom prepared for you from the beginning of the world." 
But if the Judge were not interrupted, he would pro- 
ceed to add, " For I was an hungered, and ye gave me 
meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a 
stranger, and ye took me in : naked and ye clothed 
me : I was in prison, and ye came unto me." Is this 
unconditional salvation ? Does the Judge pronounce 
only on what he does in us and for us, and not on what 
we do for him ? Nay, he will look upon this, as if we 
did it to himself, and pronounce accordingly. But how 
will the same Judge act with the believers in uncondi- 
tional salvation, who do nothing, lest it should be a 
disparagement to Christ He will say, " Depart, ye 



262 FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

cursed : for ye did not," &c. Of all the fruits of the 
Spirit, love and mercy give men the nearest conformity 
to God. The Jewish Doctors say, " As often as a poor 
man presents himself at thy door, the holy and blessed 
God stands at his right-hand : if thou relieve the poor 
man, God will give thee a reward." A moderate sup- 
ply of food might keep soul and body together, which 
are often torn asunder for want of this supply. One 
of the sayings of the Jewish Doctors on this head is 
worthy of notice. " He who neglects to preserve the 
life of a fellow-creature when it is in his power, is as 
guilty in the sight of God, as he who commits murder." 
As to " this kingdom being prepared from the founda- 
tion of the world/' let it be remarked, the inheritance 
is only for the children of the family. They must be 
sons and then heirs, not selling their inheritance for a 
mess of pottage. 

Some persons are fond of pressing Scriptures, which 
speak of the divine agency on the mind, into a service 
which is made to signify the irresistible energies of 
omnipotence. Thus,inPhilippiansii. 12, 13, " Where- 
fore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in 
my presence only, but now much more in my absence, 
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 
For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to 
do of his good pleasure. " They assert, that this means 
the sovereign, irresistible will of God. But the diffi- 
culty will be easily removed, if we recollect, that the 
apostle had commended them for obeying, 4< not only in 
his presence, but much more in his absence." He then 
exhorts them to continue in the same good way ; still 
" working out their own salvation with fear and trem 
bling," because, notwithstanding the want of his bodily 
presence, the divine Being was among them as much as 
ever, moving them of his benevolence, both "to will and 
to do." No Methodist doubts for a moment, that God 
is the origin and promoter of all good ; but that his gra- 
cious plan requires, that " we should ask in order to 
have ; seek in order to find ; and knock in order to have 
the door of mercy opened — that we should repent, be- 
lieve, obey, and hold out to the end 9 in order to be 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 263 

spiritually and everlastingly saved. Mr. P.'s plan of 
making man a mere machine, and passive in every 
thought, word, and work, must plunge the abettor of 
it into a false security, if he imagine himself one of 
the elect, or into everlasting despair, if he think him- 
self a reprobate. If a man cannot take a single step 
in the way of salvation, even after God has given the 
command to do so, until the moment when irresistible 
grace compels him, he is left under the absolute neces- 
sity of living in sin. Surely such a system must be un- 
worthy of the Holy One of Israel. 

The divine operations of the Holy Spirit are addu- 
ced as applicable to irresistible energies. Some in- 
stances are brought forward, which from the connex- 
ion, are clearly seen to be intended, not of a gracious,, 
but of a miraculous influence and agency. Thus 
Ephes. i. 9 — " According to the working of his mighty 
power." Now this power is immediately afterward 
described as illustrating itself in the resurrection of 
Christ. So also when we read, Gal. ii. 8 — " He that 
wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the 
circumcision, the same was mighty in me towards the 
Gentiles." This certainly means more than the mere 
preaching of the word. It was not by this only that 
three thousand Jews were converted on the day of 
Pentecost ; but by signs from heaven also. This 
mighty working appeared in "the demonstration of 
power," on which the apostolic pre-eminence was es- 
tablished. This is what is called, in Colos. i. 29, "His 
working, which worketh in me mightily." All this 
was extraordinary, and not the gentle and gracious in- 
fluence of the Holy Ghost, inclining the will and sanc- 
tifying the heart. 

When Mr. P. brings in the power of God as able to 
do every thing, he must be understood with some cau- 
tion. We allow the omnipotence of God to be an 
active principle, which can do all things that are pro- 
per with ease, in a moment, by the fiat of his will or 
word. We are not, however, to consider the power 
of God as separate from his divine will and wisdom. 
Hence he " does all things according to the counsel of 



264 FREE GRACE OF GOD. 

his will ;" that is, freely and wisely. The Divine 
Power is not said to do that which implies a contradio 
tion, as " that a thing should he and not be at the same 
time," or cause " that sound must be seen, as if it were 
a colour," or " that colour must be heard, as if it were 
a sound," or " that what is naturally and morally good 
must be evil," or " that what is necessarily true can be 
false," or " that the same thing should be and not be 
at the same time." Now that God should work irre- 
sistibly upon the souls of men, and make them good in 
spite of them ; that the heart has nothing to do with 
the great business of religion ; but that God works all 
things irresistibly, even wickedness in the wicked ; that 
he should condemn for not seeing, or hearing, or speak- 
ing, or understanding, when he never gave eyes, or 
ears, or tongue, or rational mind, are charges which 
the great, and just, and holy God. does not deserve 
from his human creatures. 

Mr. P. ought to remember the solemn charge, " Let 
not him that puts on the armour boast, as if he had put 
it off." In page 52, he charges the Methodist Confe- 
rence, " with being driven to such extremities, that 
every person may know the difficulties they were in, 
because," as he says, " they refer to Psalm cxlv. 9, 
when they quote " The Lord is loving unto every mar;. 
and his mercy is over all his works," instead of 
" The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are 
over all his works." Now I would ask Mr. P. what 
difference can be made to appear in the spirit of the 
quotation, from what it is intended for ? Whereas, if he 
be so impartial as to look at his own quotations, page 
50 of his book, he will see that Ephesians i. 10, is made 
to speak, " My people shall be willing in the day of 
my power:" whereas, in reality it is, " That in the 
dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather 
together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in 
heaven, and which are on earth, even in him." Now 
when Mr. P. makes such quotations, to what extremi- 
ties must he be driven ? How necessary, in passing 
a judgment, to be calm and unprejudiced, allowing 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 286 

ourselves sufficient time to receive that impartial im- 
pression, which will form a basis of true deposition. 

Instead of teaching the early converts to Christianity, 
that God designedly created the world for the express 
purpose of plunging the great majority into inevitable 
perdition, what the apostles would impress upon their 
minds was, that the divine intention is favourable to-* 
wards the posterity of Adam — that God is loving to 
every man — that he so loved the world as to give his 
only begotten Son to die for them — that he who died for 
their sins, rose also for their justification — that he is 
now also their Mediator and Advocate, at the right- 
hand of Divine Majesty. They show the greatness of 
Almighty power, softened by the mild radiance of con- 
descension and mercy. In their characters of God. 
we cannot but behold him diminishing the awful dis- 
tance at which we stand from his presence, by appoint- 
ing for all mankind a daysman and intercessor, through 
whom the humble and penitent may without dismay 
approach his presence and throne, and find mercy and 
grace to help in lime of need. By such gracious views 
of the Divine Nature, the Gospel plan lays the founda 
lion for a religion and worship, which shall be at once 
rational and affectionate : in which the light of the un- 
derstanding shall concur with the devotion of the heart 

With respect to those passages of Scripture which 
speak of the operations of divine grace, there are none 
which represent it as irresistible, any more than will 
equally give occasion to apply other passages which 
relate to the operations of Satan, to prove his influence 
to be resistless also. For instance, 2 Tim. ii. 26, some 
are represented as being " taken captive by him at his 
will." In Eph. ii. 2, we read of " the spirit that now 
worketh in the children of disobedience." Yet this 
powerful influence is by no means intended to prove 
that it is irresistible. Hence the apostle advises, u re- 
sist the devil, and he will flee from you." Though 
the Divine Influence be powerful, yet we are command- 
ed — " quench not the Spirit," and " grieve not the Spi* 
rit." There is no ground in the language of Scripture; 
to believe it to be irresistible. 



266 FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

Mr. P., page 53, adduces the General Conference 
as saying — " If then you say that Christ calls those who 
cannot come ; those whom he knows to be unable to 
come ; those whom he can make able to come, but will 
not ; how is it possible to describe greater insincerity V* 
And to show, page 54, that God is the author and 
dnisher of all the sin in the world, without the least va- 
riableness or shadow of turning, he quotes several pas- 
sages of Scripture. 

As to Prov. xvi. 4, " The Lord hath made all things 
for himself, even the wicked for the day of evil," 1 
answer, the word translated " made," is not bara, 
which i3 expressive of creating ; nor asah, which sig- 
nifies making ; but paal, which signifies to go through a 
work, or to bring it to effect. As applied in this place, 
it means that God so disposes matters as to cause the 
wickedness of men to bring them to the day of evil. 
God can make the wicked also the instruments of ac- 
complishing the divine purposes, in bringing evil on 
others, as the king of Assyria, who was the rod of his 
anger, and the staff of his indignation, to the surround- 
ing nations, Isaiah x. 5. He can cause good things to 
bring bad men to evil ; as wine, if too freely drunk, to 
inebriate, and the wholesome meat to surfeit. Now 
whose fault is it, if this result shall happen ? Thus, also, 
the legislature of a country appoints the wicked to the 
day of evil, by passing laws which deprive certain 
guilty persons of life. But can the contrivance and 
accomplishment of their death be charged on it? With 
equal propriety may it be said of the Divine Legislator, 
that he is clear of the blood of sinners, if, after his re- 
peated warnings, they die in their sin. 

In 1 Peter ii. 8, Christ is said to be " a stone of 
stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which 
stumbled at the word, whereunto they were appoint- 
ed." Here the question is, Who were the persons 
spoken of, and to what were they appointed ? The 
context describes them as " disobedient," and being 
disobedient, the preaching of a crucified Saviour was 
• ; a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence" to them. 
The Syriac version is, " At which (stone) they stumble 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 267 

tv ho are disobedient to the word , t<Twhich (word) the} 
were appointed." Erasmus paraphrases the place 
thus — " And they stumble, whosoever are offended at 
the word of the Gospel, and believe it not, seeing the 
law of Moses made them ready beforehand, to the end 
that they should believe the Gospel, as the thing was 
truly performed in deed, which the law signified in 
shadows. " Archbishop Cranmer's Bible, published in 
1541, translates the place thus — " Whereat they be 
offended, who stumble at the word, and believe not 
thereon, on which they were placed." Archbishop 
Newcombe translates it— " Even to those who stumble 
at the word, disbelieving that to which they were ap- 
pointed." Mr. Charles Thompson translates it — 
44 They, disbelieving the word, stumble at the thing for 
which they were laid." Being " appointed to the 
word," seems a more natural sense, than being " ap- 
pointed to unbelief." Of this text, I notify, that Cal- 
vin did not apply it to the doctrine of reprobation. 

With respect to Jude 1,4, " who were before of old 
ordained to this condemnation," it may be observed, 
that the ground of this ordination is declared, in their 
being " ungodly men, turning the grace of God into 
lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our 
Saviour Jesus Christ." Ordaining here, is not in any 
usual sense of the word. In the original the word is 
" before written," and in its connexion may be pro- 
perly translated " of whom it was before written." It 
must mean, either that the end of such ungodly men 
might be seen foretold in prophecy, or that their de~ 
struction might be traced, either by themselves or by 
others, in the end of former ungodly men on record. 
Nothing can be farther from the sense of the passage, 
than that their being ungodly was part of the ordina- 
tion. Dr. Doddridge's interpretation is, that God is 
perfectly clear of ordaining their sin, in order to their 
punishment. " Which interpretation (says he) I pre : 
fer to any other, as it tends to clear God of that heavy 
imputation which it must bring upon his moral at- 
tributes, to suppose that he appoints men to sin against 
him. and then condemns them for doing that which 



268 FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

they could not but do, and what they were, indepen- 
dent of their own freedom of choice, fated to ; a doc 
trine so pregnant with gloomy, and, as I should fear 
with fatal consequences, that I think it a part of the 
duty which I owe to the word of God, to reserve it 
from the imputation of containing such a tenet." This 
is another text, in which Calvin could see no reproba- 
tion. 

Theodore Beza was the person with whom the draw- 
ing of reprobation from this text originated. Dr. John 
Gerhard, a Lutheran divine, who was a professor in 
the University of Jena in the 16th century, and who 
is honourably spoken of by Dr. Mosheim, in his 2d 
vol., notices the innovation here remarked on. He as- 
cribes it to Beza, and adds, that " the perversion bein& 
very agreeable to some, they were not afraid to insert 
it in the text of the Latin Bibles, published at Frankfort 
in 1591. Gerhard's work, which was dedicated to the 
Elector of Saxony, appears to have been first edited in 
1610 ; at which time it appeared an extraordinary in- 
stance of effrontery, to have introduced into Latin Bi 
bles, what restricted the words to a sense now pleaded 
for by the Cctlviui»i?>, as the true construction of the 
common English version. 

Cranmer's Bible translates the passage thus — " Ol 
which it was written, aforetime, unto such judgments.' 
Luther's Bible, rendered into English, has it — " Of 
whom, in former times, has been written to such pu- 
nishments.'' Archbishop Newcombe has it — "Who 
were, before of old, set forth for this condemnation.' 
\nd Mr. Thompson, thus — c< Who have been of ok 
written of, and for this very crime." 

Dr. John Gerhard quotes a work of Calvin, in which, 
commenting on Acts xiii. 26 — " Men and brethren, 
children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among 
you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation 
sent," he illustrates the sentiment of it by this text, 
which he considers only as expressing that the Jews 
were placed in circumstances favourable to their recep- 
tion of the Gospel. This is even stranger than what k 
stated above j concerning his not including; the place 



BESTOWED ON ALL MAXKlXD. 269 

among the texts by which his system is supported in 
his Institutes. 

As to Romans ix. 10 — 20, " The hardening of Pha- 
raoh's heart." The case of Pharaoh has given rise to 
many fierce controversies, and conflicting opinions. 
Would men hut look at the whole account without the 
medium of their respective creeds, they would find little 
difficulty in coming at the truth. All sober Christians 
must allow with St. Augustine, that, as the person here 
alluded to, is one who is said to have hardened his own 
heart frequently, by resisting the grace and Spirit of 
God, " that God does not harden him by infusing ma- 
lice into him, but by not imparting mercy to him. Also, 
that God does not work hardness of heart in man, but in 
a certain sense he may be said to harden him whom he 
does not soften ; to blind him whom he refuses to en- 
lighten ; and to repel him whom he refuses to call." It 
is but just and right that he should withhold those 
graces which he had repeatedly offered, and which the 
sinner had either refused and rejected, or trampled 
under foot. The Hebrew verb chazak, which we 
translate " harden," literally signifies to strengthen, 
confirm, m*ke bold, or courageous Joshua U3es this 
word, Josh. i. 7, in his exhortation — " be strong." So 
also, in his dying exhortation to the people, Josh, xxiii. 
q — <* Be y e therefore very courageous." It w^ould not 
be well to translate it in those places, " be hard," or 
^ be ye hardened ;" or " be ye very hard," or " very 
hardened." Yet if we use the word " hardy," it would 
suit the sense and context very well. " Only be thou 
hardy;" or " be ye therefore very hardy." Now ii 
we apply the word in this way to Pharaoh, the sense 
would be good, and the justice of God equally conspi- 
cuous. " I will make his heart hardy, bold, daring, 
presumptuous. For the same principle acting against 
God's order is presumption, which, when acting ac- 
cording to it, is undaunted courage. The Hebrew veiB 
Icashah is also used, which signifies, to render stiff, 
tough, or stubborn, but it amounts to nearly the same 
meaning with the former. 
All who are acquainted with the Scriptures know 
^3* 



270 FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

well, that God is frequently represented as doing what 
he only permits to be done. So because a man has 
grieved his Spirit, and resisted his grace, he withdraws 
that Spirit and grace from him, and thus the sinner be- 
comes bold and presumptuous in sin. Pharaoh made 
his own heart stubborn against God, Exod. ix. 34, and 
God gave him up to judicial blindness, so that he rushed 
on stubbornly to his own destruction. From the whole 
of Pharaoh's conduct, we learn that he was bold, 
haughty, and cruel : God permitted these dispositions 
to have their full sway in his heart, without check or 
restraint from divine influence ; the consequence was. 
he did not immediately comply with his requisition to 
let his people go : this allowed God fuller opportunity 
)f manifesting his power, by multiplying signs and mira- 
cles ; and thus impress the hearts, both of the Egyp- 
tians and Israelites, with a due sense of his omnipo- 
tence and justice. The whole procedure was calcula 
ted to do endless good to both nations. The Israelites 
must be satisfied that they had the true God for then 
protector ; and thus their faith was strengthened. The 
Egyptian* must see that their gods could do nothing 
against the God of Israel, and thus their dependence 01 
them was necessarily shaken. These great ends could 
lot have been answered, bad Pharaoh consented at 
>nce to let the people go. This consideration alone k 
sufficient to unravel the mystery, and to explain every 
thing. Let it be likewise observed, that there is nothing 
spoken here of the eternal state of the Egyptian king. 
DOT does any thing in the whole of the subsequent ac 
count, authorize us to believe " that God hardened 
his heart against the influence of his own grace," that 
he might occasion him so to sin, that his justice might 
condemn him to heir. This would be such an act of 
flagrant injustice, as we could scarcely attribute to the 
worst of men. He who leads another into an offence : 
that he may have a fairer pretence of punishing him for 
it ; or brings him into such circumstances, that he can 
not avoid committing a capital crime, and then hangs 
him for it, is surely the most execrable of mortals, 
Wbat then should we make of the God of justice and 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 271 

mercy, should we attribute to him a decree, the date 
of which is lost in eternity, by which he is determined 
to cut off from the possibility of salvation millions of 
millions of unborn souls, and leave them under a ne- 
cessity of sinning, by actually hardening their hearts 
against the influences of his own grace and Spirit, that 
he may, on the pretext of justice, consign them to end- 
less perdition ? Whatever may be pretended in behalf 
of such unqualified opinions, it must be evident to all 
who are not deepty prejudiced, that neither the justice 
nor the sovereignty of God can be magnified by them. 
Neither the Hebrew of Exod. ix. 16, " I have caused 
thee to stand," nor the Apostle's translation, Rom. ix. 
17 — tc I have raised thee," nor that of the Septuagint, 
•'On this account thou art preserved," namely, in 
the past plagues — can countenance that most exception- 
able meaning put on the words by certain commenta 
tors, namely — That God ordained or appointed Pharaoh 
from all eternity, by certain means to this end ; that he 
made him to exist in time ; that he raised him to the 
throne ; that he preserved him and did not cut him off 
in the past plagues ; that he strengthened and hardened 
his heart ; that he irritated, provoked, and stirred him 
up against the people of Israel ; and suffered him to go to 
all the lengths he did go in obstinacy and rebellion ; all 
which was done for the express purpose of showing in 
him his power, in destroying him and his host in the 
Red Sea. Now what is the amount of this horrible 
opinion, but that " this man was raised up by God in 
every sense, for God to show his power in his destruc- 
tion." So man may speak ; but thus God has not spo- 
ken. He had ever so many offers made to him : he 
might have submitted, and prevented his own destruc- 
tion. He was warned beforehand, which mustcertainly 
show T him that the affliction w r hich happened was no 
casualty, but the effect of a Divine Providence in the 
exercise of Justice. 

With respect to Romans ix. 20, Nay, but, man 
who art thou that repliest against God ? The plain 
meaning is, As if he had said, weak, ignorant man* 
darest thou retort on the infinitely good and righteous 
Goc| ? Reflect on thyself; and tell me ? after thou hast 



J72 FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

abused the grace of God, and transgressed his laws, 
wilt thou cavil at his dispensations ? God hath made, 
created, and formed the Jewish nation : and shall the 
thing formed, when it hath corrupted itself, pretend 
to correct the wise and gracious Author of its being : 
and say, Why hast thou made me thus ? Why hast thou 
constituted me in this manner? Thou hast done me 
\vrong in giving me my being under such and such con- 
ditions. The apostle is here speaking of men, not in- 
dividually, but nationally, as may be seen from Jere- 
miah xviii. 1, from which he brings the parable of tin 
potter. 

" The decrees of God are the rule," says Mr. P. 
j). 55. M by which he regulates his own conduct in his 
government." He has advanced this declaration, but 
given no proof of it. By the decrees of God, Mr. P. 
would make him the author and finisher of all the sin 
in the world. But the Holy Scriptures speak a differ- 
ent language. The language of Abraham was, " Shall 
not the Judge of all the earth do right ?" In things that 
are more obscure we should govern ourselves by thai 
which is clear, and should, with Moses, lay down this 
for a certain principle. " All his ways are judgment : 
a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is 
he." With the apostle of the Gentiles, we should sa) . 
1 is there unrighteousness in God ? God forbid. And 
again ; we know that the judgment of God is according 
fx) truth. How malicious a suggestion must it be to 
proclaim ou the house top, and spread through the me- 
dium of the press, the barefaced opinion, "that God 
^eeks the destruction of men, and hath made his laws 
on purpose so difficult and cross to our inclinations, tha 
he might have an advantage to ruin us for our disobe- 
dience to them." Alas ! it must appear to every candid 
observer, that our destruction is of ourselves, and that 
God is free from the blood of all men. Besides this, he 
has provided a powerful and effectual remedy for our 
natural infirmity and impotency, by that sufficient 
grace which brings salvation, and which has been 
afforded to all men. 

Mr, P. tells us 5 pp. 56, 57, that by a decree, we are 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 278 

to understand a purpose, design, or determination in 
God, by which he has predetermined to do, or work 
in his people, to will and to do; and by which he 
also determined not to bring many of the wicked 
lo repentance, but to punish them for their sins," 
He adds, that this decree, well supported, is " the 
doctrine which puts God upon the throne both of 
heaven and earth." To suppose for a moment, that a 
God of truth and equity should be engaged in laying 
the dreadful snare of a secret decree, intended to tre- 
pan and ruin his moral creatures, is a most ungenerous 
surmise. A decree is a secret thing ; whereas, God's 
calls to repentance, the time afforded, the ministry 
of the word, the suggestions of the Spirit, and the 
means of grace, are all open ; they are plainer signs 
that God is willing to have mercy, than any secret de- 
cree can be, of his intending the ruin of the individual. 
Why does Mr. P. raise those hobgoblins, and station 
those lions in the way, to disturb the minds ^f young 
persons and sincere penitents, who often, of their own 
accord, " fear where no fear is." Are the secrets of 
God to be our rule of judging, or "the word which is 
nigh us, and in our hearts." The word of God is very 
plain on this head, where it informs u&, that " secret 
things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that 
are revealed to us and to our children for ever, that we 
may do all the words of this law." Where the express 
command of God is, " Reject not the counsel of God 
against yourselves"— or where he asserts that their 
" blood shall be upon their own heads." Do not those 
Scriptures, and a whole host of Scripture testimonies 
that might be adduced, plainly show that God has set 
life and death before men, and gives them liberty to 
make a free choice ? He will not irresistibly force hap- 
piness upon them, and make them w 7 ise and good, 
whether they will or no. He presents them with such 
motives, and oilers such arguments as are fit to prevail 
with reasonable men, affording them at the same time 
all necessary assistance. We ought to rely on the 
truth of his open declaration ; and that he does not 
speak with any secret reserves or dark distinctions 



274 FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

No wonder Mr. P. pp. 58, 59, should quote the Me- 
thodists, as stating it as the opinion of the rigid holders 
of the predestinating decree, "that the elect must be 
saved, do what they will : that the reprobates must be 
damned, do what they can." Also, " By his unchange 
able.decree, he leaves thousands of souls in death, and 
compels them to continue in sin — Such blasphemy as 
this is sufficient to make the ears of a Christian to tin- 
gle — This is the blasphemy clearly contained in the 
horrible decree of predestination — children of a span 
long as well as their parents, are made to pass through 
the fire of hell — "Let the morning stars sing together, 
and the sons of hell shout for joy — The decree is passed, 
and who shall disannul it." Now I would ask Mr. P. 
if all these charges against rigid predestination be not 
only substantially, but even literally true, in number, 
weight, and measure? Does not he himself, page 60, 
positively declare, that every thing is irresistible and 
unconditional ? " That if he (God) desires to bring any 
sinner to repentance, he does it, (he must succeed) for 
he is the*Lord God Almighty, and there is nothing too 
hard for him." Now as to the exercise of God's Al- 
mighty power, Mr. P. will do well to recollect, that 
the Methodists allow this power to extend beyond not 
only description, but even the highest conceptions of 
mortals. But at the same time, that He exercises 
this power willingly, in such manner, and for the pro- 
ducing of such effects as seem best to agree with his 
divine wisdom and goodness. Now if Mr. P. deny 
this, and assert, that when sinners plunge themselves 
into guilt, and when the worst comes to the worst, he 
must then fly to the power of God, which he says can 
do all things, without contradiction, " even wickedness 
in the most wicked." 

Although it is a Divine truth, that there is a gracious 
influence of the Spirit of God on the hearts of men ; yet 
it is suasive, and not irresistible. This would make 
man to be a mere machine ; and prevents his being a 
subject either of punishment or reward. Not only so; 
it seems eminently derogatory to Almighty God, by 
representing him as offering benefits which he de- 



M 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND* Tib 

(ermined never to bestow ; and which the party t6 
whom the offer is made, is under an invincible neces- 
sity of rejecting. This is a point which Mr. P. trifles 
with, by saying that God can do what he pleases with 
his own, and that he has created the great majority 
designedly for the day of wrath, and fiery indignation." 
In page 62, he tells us that, " As God has created all 
beings, so he knows their ends, has them in his power 5 
and what his soul desireth, even that he does." Sure- 
ly, if this be the case, and if man be altogether a pas- 
sive machine, or mere instrument in the hand of God, 
he is not to be condemned for the evil, or commended 
for the good which he could not prevent. However 
justly we may be cautioned in admitting the voice of 
reason in the things of God, yet we must sometimes 
appeal to it, as well as to common sense, on the score^ 
that decreeing man to the commission of sin and its 
consequent punishment, is a matter that ought not to 
be ascribed to God, because contrary to our natural 
apprehensions of his attributes. 

In page 64, Mr. P. asks, " Is Judas excused for 
fulfilling what God had determined to permit him to 
do?" Now, on his own principles, the question ought 
to be, not concerning what God had determined to 
" permit him to do," but " what God determined he 
should do," and rendered it impossible for him to 
avoid by an irresistible decree. Sensible of the pres- 
sure of this difficulty, he altogether shuns the possi- 
bility of reconciling any thing like the application of 
an invincible energy and bias to evil, and a just ac- 
countability in the creature so circumstanced, to the 
justice of the Almighty Being, constraining to the evil 
act. A presumption, so extravagant, which makes the 
Holy One of Israel the intentional author of evil, can- 
not but be considered as contradictory to his essential 
character and attributes. 

if Christ came into the world to save not only sin* 
ners, but the chief of sinners, how could his goodness, 
impartiality, equity, truth, and holiness, permit him to 
reprobate millions unconditionally ? And if he came to 
save sinners, the chief not excepted, why does the 



276 FREE GRACE Of GOD, 

publisher of inevitable decrees except any ? When the 
plain language of Scripture is " Christ, by the grace of 
God, tasted death for every man — that the Son of man 
came to seek and to save that which was lost — that the 
great end which he had in view was, that the world 
through him might be saved — that he is indeed the 
Christ, the Saviour of the world — that God was in 
Christ reconciling the world to himself." Why doe? 
Mr. P. fly in the face of reason, and Scripture, Hud 
common sense, and say that Christ died only for a 
select few ? 

As to Luke xxii. 22, " And truly the Son of man 
goeth as it was determined of him." The word goeth, 
signifies to die, go away, depart, and is frequently used 
for leaving the world. The word " determined," is 
in Matt. xxvi. 24, rendered by " written," or prophe- 
sied of, as may be seen in Psalm xxii. Isaiah liii. Dan. 
ix. 26. In all which the death of Christ is spoken of, 
and that, not for himself, but for the sins of the people 
that is, 4t of all the people." He came to seek and 
to save that which was lost. He died, the just for the 
unjust. He came to save sinners. He bore our sins 
in ids own body on the shameful tree. Now, where 
m individual can claim any connexion or acquaintance 
with the terms lost, unjust, or sinner, he can claim an 
interest in a Redeemer, in the person of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

Mr. P. adduces Acts ii. 33, (it should be verse 23,) 
• Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and 
foreknowledge of God." This certainly means that 
counsel of God, which can define time, place, or cir- 
cumstance ; which saw what was most proper in this 
respect for the manifestation and crucifixion of his 
Son ; God having determined, that the salvation of a 
lost world should be brought about in this way; and 
neither the Jews nor the Ptomans had any power 
here, but what was given to them from above. It was 
not through Christ's weakness, or inability to defend 
himself, that he was taken: nor was it through their 
malice merely, that he was slain ; for God had de- 
termined long before, to give his Son a sacrifice for 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 2il 

sin; and the treachery of Judas, and the malice of 
the Jews, were only the incidental means by which 
the great counsel of God was fulfilled. 

As to Acts iv. 27, (it should be 28,) " To do what- 
soever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to 
be done." It is evident that what God's hand and 
counsel determined before to be done, was not that 
which Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the peo- 
ple of Israel had done, and were doing ; for then their 
rage and vain counsel would be such as God himself 
had determined should take place, which is both im- 
pious and absurd : but these gathered together to hin- 
der what God had before determined, that his Christ 
or Anointed should perform ; and thus the passage is 
undoubtedly to be understood. 

Mr. P. brings it as a dreadful charge against the Me- 
thodists, pages 68, 69, " That Mr. Wesley and they 
hold it as a sentiment, that God, of his own free grace, 
gave the posterity of Adam a liberty and power to ac- 
cept of proffered salvation." To this I would answer, 
that not only God's free grace, but man's free will also, 
is a subject which is in every body's mouth. When the 
sorrowful sighings of the contrite heart are poured out at 
the foot of the throne of grace, in asking, seeking, callings 
entreating for mercy through the crucified, will not the 
most rigid predestinarian allow that God is waiting to be 
gracious, and that he will hear and answer to the joy 
of their souls ? Are not the plain assertions, " I will," 
' I will not," U I choose," " I refuse," (which are 
most familiar, and in every body's mouth,) a plain proof 
that such a power is lodged, by the grace of God, in the 
hand of men, to that degree which answers all reason 
able ends ? 

Mr. P. seems highly displeased, page 69, that the 
Methodists should hold out the spiritual and saving in- 
fluences of religion as attainable in the way of request 
or prayer, at the hands of God. When humble prayer 
lifts the eye to the hills of salvation, and holy hands 
without wrath or doubting — crying to the Lord in trou- 
ble — calling on his name with supplication, ardour, and 
earnest desire — asking, seeking, knocking, striving be 
24 



278 FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

seeching, weeping, pouring out the voice of want tc 
him who can relieve, and the voice of penitence to him 
that can forgive ; he will certainly hear and answer. 

" To say that man has free will to choose when God 
offers, or to accept of salvation when he proffers it, is 
pride, or something bordering on pride," in Mr. P.'s es* 
teem. To this, I answer ; can we for a moment sup- 
pose or imagine that God's natural or moral favour- 
carry in them the intention to excite pride. Is not this 
the abuse, and not the proper use of them ? Were the 
heavenly bodies intelligent beings, there could be no 
crime in their recollecting that " there is one glory of 
the sun, another glory of the moon, and another of the 
stars ; and that one star differeth from another in 
glory." There is no pride in an angel's contemplating 
himself as superior to a man ; or in a man, in con- 
templating himself as superior to a brute. 

That doctrine of the Methodists, which states it to be 
our duty " to love God because he is good to us," Mr. 
P. condemns as selfish. Surely a proper considera 
lion of the divine goodness ought to excite our inward 
affection and gratitude, as well as our praises. To this 
duty the Psalmist summons all the powers and faculties 
of his soul : ,f Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that 
is within me, bless his holy name." He invites other^ 
to the same work : " O give thanks unto the Lord, 
for he is good, and his mercy endureth forever." The 
declarations of the New Testament are — " We love 
him, because he first loved us" — " Thanks be to God 
for his unspeakable gift" — " In every thing give 
thanks." It is a sign that men are unfit for heaven, 
when they are backward to that which constitutes the 
chief employment of the blessed above, who sing the 
praises of God and the Lamb forever. 

While Mr. P., (pages 70, 71,) thinks it an easy thing 
to bring in the irresistible power of God, as forcing the 
wicked to their pitch of evil, as well as the elect to 
their piety, declaring at the same time that there is not 
a text in the Bible which speaks of any thing else but 
force, or which speaks of man having the power of 
choosing what is right, he is not aware to what diffi 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 279 

oulties Calvinistic divines are driven in their public 
ministrations, by the distinction of general and special 
grace. They are aware how barren of all practical 
use it would be, were they continually bringing before 
their hearers, the dependence of the human will on 
causes over which it has no control For on this 
ground, there would seem to be no room for persua- 
sion. But they think it their duty to persuade, and to 
make an offer without reserve. The English Divines 
at the Synod of Dort. recommended to the states, that 
predestination should not be openly and indiscriminate- 
ly inculcated. It was probably owing to those divines, 
who were spoken of as worthy men, that the Synod did 
not go the lengths that Gomarus and others aimed at. 
The same English Divines endeavoured, but without 
success, to procure a censure on the doctrines that 
" God moves the tongues of men to blaspheme him, 5 * 
and that " men can do no more good or evil than they 
actually do." What does Mr. P. think of such Ian 
guage as this ? For, if the Methodists be irresistibly 
determined to believe and speak as they do, why does 
he yet find fault with his own doctrine ? 

When Mr. P. charges the Methodists (page 72,) 
with asking, " Who is bound to seek after that which is 
impossible ? Certainly it would be mocking men to bid 
them do so ;" instead of answering this objection ra- 
tionally, he tells us " that the main pillar of their hope 
for eternity stands entirely on human reasoning, which 
expressly contradicts the word of God" — as Jer. xiii. 
23, Can the Ethiopian change his colour, or the leo- 
pard his spots ? But surely where difficulties are 
spoken of, in the strong language of impossibilities, Mr. 
P. ought to have some regard to figurative expression, 
and not to avow that conversion is an utter impossi- 
bility. 

We allow, and maintain that were our works to arise 
to all the characters which self-flattery might wish, we 
should be but unprofitable servants. So even reason 
may tell us ; and so our blessed Saviour has pro- 
nounced, in a manner not to be misunderstood. But 
besides, being sinners, we have nothing in our power 



2&0 FREE GRACE OF GOD-, 

that can be a commutation for the punishment due a 
sin. It was Christ who " bore our sins in his own 
body on the tree." " He made reconciliation by the 
blood of his cross," and therefore, not unto us, but to 
him be ascribed all the praise. 

The Methodists plead and publish, that the merits of 
Christ are the great procuring cause of the grace ot 
God. Thus, in the case of subjects under the displea- 
sure of their prince, if he should pardon them at the 
request of a son, raised high in his affection by an 
achievement eminently meritorious, the merit of the 
thing will by no means be imputed to the persons par- 
doned. In the case supposed, there must, however, 
be an acceptance of the act of grace ; to be a pledge of 
dutiful submission in future. So in the case of a Chris- 
tian ; there must be a like acceptance, by faith, of the 
mercy of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ. Surely this view of the subject must utterly 
level and discountenance all human pride. 

But while the Methodists acknowledge the merits of 
Christ as the great procuring cause of mercy, they 
cannot see how this should prevent the humble peni- 
tent from coming to Christ, believing on him with the 
heart unto righteousness, and loving him with all the 
heart, and soul, and mind, and strength ; manifesting 
the sincerity of his inward piety by a holy conversation 
and godliness. The truth is, that as repentance, faith, 
and obedience, are means by which grace operates to 
our salvation from sin in this world, and to our final 
salvation in heaven ; each of them is occasionally 
spoken of as if it were the whole of religion, and with 
good reason, because it implies the others in a high 
degree. They are all gracious conditions, to which 
every true Christian must conform. The Calvinists 
allow the impossibility of the enjoyment of heavenly 
happiness by persons habitually inclined to sin, even 
if they were admitted into heaven. Hence, where 
universal holiness can be dispensed with in life, from a 
fear of its detracting from the merit of Christ, they al- 
low it is absolutely necessary in death. 

Some Calvinists have applied to the righteousness of 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 281 

Christ, what is found in Rev. xix. 8. " And to her 
(the Church,) was granted, that she should be arrayed 
in tine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the 
righteousness of the saints." But what says that candid 
Calvinist, Dr. Doddridge, to this application ? " The 
righteousness of saints evidently signifies their righ- 
teous acts, and therefore, though I doubt not but it is 
with regard to the righteousness and obedience of the 
Son of God, that all our righteous acts are accepted be- 
fore God ; yet I cannot suppose that these words have 
that reference which some have imagined, to the im- 
putation of his righteousness to us. And I hope Chris- 
tian divines will have the courage to speak with the 
Scripture, even though it may be at the expense of 
their reputation for orthodoxy." 

Mr. P. can hardly help feeling himself under a mis 
take, in adducing (page 74,) the case of the rich young 
man, Matt. xix. 24. For though men might infer that his 
case was altogether desperate, as well as the case of 
every other rich man, yet Christ qualifies this idea, 
and reduces the impossibility to a difficulty, by telling 
us that with God it was possible. Now if it were ut- 
terly impossible, any more than for a camel to pass 
through the eye of a needle, what shall we think of 
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Caleb, Job, 
Obed, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, penitent Ma- 
nasseh, Nehemiah, Esther, the queen of Persia, the 
Maccabees, who were priests and kings, and Joseph of 
Arimathea, who was a rich man ? Now when Mr. P. 
states that a single text cannot be produced to discoun- 
tenance this, what shall we think of the bravado of 
such a challenge ? 

He adduces the reply of the Scribe, Mark. xii. 34. 
iC And to love him (God) with all the heart, and with all 
the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all 
the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is 
more than whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices." Mr. 
P.'s comment is a very curious one indeed, namely, 
" If this Scribe had lived among us at this day, it is not 
possible that any man could have persuaded him to join 
the Methodists, and put his name on the class paper, 
24* 



282 FREE GRACE OP GOD f 

because he proceeded too far in a knowledge of the 
truth to be made believe, either that a man could keep 
the whole law of God, or that God had not commanded 
more than mankind, in their fallen state, were able to 
perform." But to this it may be replied, " where can 
Mr. P. show from the reply of the Scribe, that he be- 
lieved a compliance with the divine injunction to be 
altogether impossible ?" While Mr. P. renounces all 
claim to absolute merit in sinners, does he deny it to 
be the duty of a sinner to conform to conditions of a 
gracious covenant ? Not understanding this distinction, 
some speak of the whole body of the Israelites as ne- 
cessarily subjected to the curse of God by the very 
condition of their law, which required unsinning obedi- 
ence from the first to the last in every individual ; so 
that according to this notion, it did not appear until the 
manifestation of Christ, how any Israelite could be 
*aved. But is it to be supposed, that any people would 
willingly take upon their consciences a stipulated obe- 
dience to a law which could not be obeyed ? Neither is 
it conceiving worthily of the all wise and all-graciou? 
God to suppose that he would exact any thing of this 
sort. The holy end in requiring stipulation on the part 
of man, to meet promise on the part of God, is, that by 
the union of these two matters in the form of a cove 
nant, the resulting obligation may be the more impres- 
sive ; and not for the extorting of a previous consent, 
^to gain the appearance of justice, in a penalty that is 
unavoidable. Does not Mr. P. see the legal economy 
abounding with sacrifices, intended to make atonement 
for different species of transgression ? As these sacri- 
fices prefigured the great sacrifice to come, here was 
faith, associated with obedience, even under the pre- 
paratory dispensation. But when the object of that 
feith had appeared in person, then the seeking of sal- 
vation by the law, was an abiding by the condemning 
property of it, and a putting the more merciful out of 
view. Accordingly, it was highly proper in the apos- 
tle Paul, to caution the Jewish Christians against so 
great an error ; by intimating that they thereby sub- 
jected themselves to the consequences of that threat" 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 283 

ening— u Cursed is every one that continueth not in all 
things which are written in the book of the law to do 
them." Not that this curse, as it stood in the law, was 
not allied with a gracious provision for the relieving of 
the conscience from the weight of sin ; but because 
this was henceforth to be continued under a new econo- 
my by which the former was to be superseded. 

To show the doctrine of life and death , as set before men 
to be but a chimera, Mr. P. assumes the authority to tell 
us, pp. 75, 76, that this power to choose good or evil, is 
nothing but assertion made by short-sighted men, who 
would rise in rebellion against the word of Jehovah, 
Thinking his bare assertion to be equal to an argument, 
he tells us, " if it were necessary, more might be 
added." But to show that the influence of grace is 
irresistible ; that the talent cannot be hid : the Spirit 
quenched, or the suggestion trifled with : he leaves 
the spiritual and ordinary ground, and becomes extra- 
ordinary and miraculous. The instances which he ad- 
duces to show the truth of irresistible conversion are 
miraculous. " Christ said to Lazarus, Come forth" — 
to the man with the withered hand, " Stretch forth thine 
hand" — to the palsied patient, " Take up thy bed and 
go unto thine house." Now I appeal to every candid 
reader, whether these cases be fair comparisons with a 
sinner, convinced, penitent, asking, seeking, and crying 
for mercy ? And whether sinners in general be as pas- 
sive in conviction, and repentance, and inquiry, as 
Lazarus was in his grave ? What seems most unac- 
countable is, that he who in page 76 declares, that 
Lazarus did nothing, tells us in the same page, that 
" repentance unto life requires not only that a sinner 
refrain from sin, but that he should absolutely hate it," 
These two ideas, namely, " we can do nothing," and 
•' we must do something," are utterly irreconcileable. 
In pages 77 and 78, he labours hard to make theGospel 
plan to consist in God's designing millions of immortal 
souls to a perdition which they cannot avoid ; and in page 
79, he adds, " Brethren, perhaps we are grieved as 
much as any people, to see the destruction of our fellow* 
sinners, and rejoice as much as others do to hear of 



234 FREE GRACE OF GOD. 

their conversion and salvation. We trust to bis wis 
dom and goodness, and believe that he knows best how 
many it will be proper to enlighten and save." Then 
consequently, how many it will be proper, on the same 
reprobating plan, to darken, harden, blind, delude, and 
finally destroy. O shocking character ! shocking acts ! 
attached to the high and holy One. 

To show that conversion is irresistible, he adduces 
2 Cor. iii. 15, 16 — " But even unto this day, when 
Moses is read, the vail is on their hearts ; nevertheless, 
when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken 
away :" therefore, he adds, k> it appears God can re- 
move this blindness whenever he pleases." The allu 
sion here is to the case of Moses, mentioned Exod. 
xxiv. 34, When he came from the Lord, and spoke 
to the Israelites, he put the vail over his face ; but 
When he returned to speak with the Lord, then he tool. 
off the rail. Several thousands of this nation have 
already turned to the Lord ; and a time is on the wing 
when all will return. 

" The attributes of God ought always to be kept in 
view — that is, a- just and powerful, as well as merci- 
ful." While we ascribe all possible perfections to 
God, we are not to blemish the divine nature with the 
least shadow of imperfection. This would strike at 
the foundation, and destroy one of the clearest concep- 
tions which we have of God. The Scriptures are very 
mreful to remove all moral and natural imperfection 
from God, such as slaying the righteous with the wick- 
ed, Lc. Holiness is frequently ascribed to God, which 
signifies the purity of the divine nature. " He is a 
God of truth, and without iniquity." To want any 
thing, to be liable to any accident, to depend upon ano- 
ther for one's happiness, are imperfections from which 
He is infinitely removed. He can neither tempt nor 
be tempted to sin. It is easily credible to us, that all 
things w r ere made and are governed by him. His 
goodness disposed him to communicate being or exist- 
ence to creatures, and then to provide for them. 
Infinite power and wisdom render him able to do all 
this without any toil, or labour, or difficulty. We 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 28& 

know in a tolerable measure, what is meant by his 
goodness, justice, and truth : and therefore, no man 
ought to entertain any notion of God which plainly 
contradicts these. The perfections of God are in a 
divine harmony and reconciliation. God is not mere 
power or sovereignty ; or mere mercy and goodness ; 
or mere justice and severity ; but an infinite, eternal, 
and glorious Being, in whom all these perfections are 
united, in a divine unison and consistency. We should 
never separate these perfections, or consider them 
singly, by framing such large notions of one as to ex- 
clude another. That is, not a divine perfection which 
contradicts any other. One perfection of God should 
not be raised upon the ruins of another. Some per- 
sons, by being too intent on God's Sovereignty to the 
neglect of his other perfections, have spoken hard 
things about predestinating power. The sovereignty of 
God does by no means set him above the eternal laws of 
goodness, truth, mercy, and justice. By poring upon 
the justice and severity of God, men are apt to be 
swallowed up in despair. God is not so severe, but 
he is merciful to the penitent, and hath left a retreat to 
the returning sinner, if this were well considered ; 
it would check the presumption of those also who en- 
courage themselves in sin, by fancying to themselves 
a God, all mercy or all goodness. 

To show that only a select few, and not the general 
mass of men can have any thing to do with the decla- 
rations or promises of the Gospel, Mr. P. cites John 
i. 9 — " That was the true light which lighteth every 
man coming into the world," and insists on it, that this 
Scripture, and many others which appear to be of 
general or universal application, are to be restricted 
to the most scanty dimensions, and to signify only a 
few, who receive not only God's calling, but an effec- 
tual calling. The very plain meaning of this passage 
is, that, as Christ is the spring and fountain of all wis- 
dom, so all are enlightened by him in a saving degree. 
Some of the most eminent Rabbins understand IsaL 
Ix. 1 — " Rise and shine, for thy light is come," of the 
Messiah, who was to illuminate Israel, This divine 



28G FREE GRACE OF GOD, 

light lighteth every human being. As man sees the 
light when born, from which he was excluded before ; 
in like manner, the heavenly light shines into the sou! 
of every man. By this light, conscience is produced. 
There was much light in the law, but this shone onl) 
upon the Jews : b\it the superior light of the Gospel 
is to be diffused over the whole earth. 

Mr. P. states, that " though the grace of God, or the 
doctrines of the Gospel, may appear to all men, being 
given and published to the world at large, yet the gene- 
ral mass of mankind being under a predestinating de- 
cree, walk in darkness, or are compelled to do so, 
while it effectually teaches Paul and Titus, and all 
other true believers." How r Mr. P. can bring in the 
sovereign will of God, as the original barrier to the 
salvation of his human creatures, especially when so 
many Scriptures speak the doctrine of free grace and 
mercy in the strongest language, shows how thick the 
vail is which prejudice has drawn over the truth. 

Mr. P., unwilling to leave his favourite ground, as 
serts that, " whatever comes to pass is foreordained 
and appointed of God." He asks also, " why God 
did not irivc equal powers to those angels who fell with 
those who stood ?" as if a difference of powers, and 
not of choice or fidelity, constituted their fall. He 
asks also, " If they were upheld in their innocence b} 
the power of God, why did he not uphold them all by 
the same power?" as if God had ceased to support, 
and not they ceased to rely ; as if the vine had left 
the branch, and not the branch the vine ; as if the 
father had left the prodigal, and not the prodigal the 
father ; as if the shepherd had left the sheep, and not 
the sheep the shepherd. 

He asks also, whether all the good and evil in the 
world must not have their origin in God's decrees ? 
To this I answer, that next to the acknowledgment 
of God's Being, nothing is more essential to religion 
than a firm belief of his Providence, and a constant 
dependence upon him, as the governor of the world, 
and the wise disposer of all the affairs and concerns ot 
the children of men. Nothing can be a greater argu 



BESTOWED ON ALL MANKIND. 28? 

ment of Providence, than that in the ordinary course 
of things, there is such an order laid, as that things 
attain their ends. A harvest may be reasonably ex- 
pected, where the soil is good and well planted, at the 
proper time, and with convenient seed in proper mea- 
sure, &c. And yet there is a mixture of contingency 
seen, when things fail of producing their usual effects. 
God has reserved to himself a power and liberty to 
interpose as his wisdom sees best, in order to awaken 
men to a continual dependence upon him. Solomon 
acknowledged, that though it was the duty of a man to 
do whatever his hand found fit, yet the race is not 
always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. The 
success of things does not always answer the proba- 
bility of second causes and means. The Providence 
of God steps in, and turns the most probable events of 
things quite another way. For the universal prospect 
of the divine plan we must wait till we see things, not 
in a glass darkly, but face to face, when that promise 
shall be fulfilled— 44 What ye know not now, ye shall 
know hereafter." 

When Mr. P. asks, " why God did not give the same 
powers to all ?" it may be replied, that it is not incon- 
sistent with the goodness of God, that some creatures 
should be inferior, or less good than others ; that there 
should be this variety in his creatures ; that they should 
be of several degrees of perfection ; made for several 
ases and purposes- ; and to be subservient one to ano- 
ther : provided, they all contribute to the harmony 
and beauty of the whole. 

Though temporal evils maybe deserved by us ; and 
though sometimes they come from the hand of man, yet 
they are disposed by the providence of God. Upon 
the supposition of sin, affliction is good, as a proper 
punishment. It is designed as a prevention of greater 
evil. It brings wicked men to a sense of their sin, 
and often reclaims them from it. 

The evil of sin is the great question. " How is it 
consistent with the goodness of God, to permit so great 
an evil as this to come into the world ?" To answer 
this, let it be considered, that it does not at all contra- 
dict the wisdom or goodness of God, to make a creature 



2{J8 FREE GRACE OF GOD. 

of such a frame and capacity as to be capable of having 
its obedience tried; in order to the reward of it, which 
could not be, unless such a creature were made muta- 
ble, and by the good or bad use of its liberty, ca- 
pable of obeying or disobeying the laws of its Cre- 
ator. Where there is no possibility of sinning, there 
can be no trial of our virtue and obedience ; and no- 
thing but virtue and obedience are capable of reward. 
The goodness of God toward us, is sufficiently vindi- 
cated, in that he made us capable of happiness, and 
gave us sufficient power and direction for attaining that 
end. 

Mr. P. adduces sundry instances of God's severity. 
in those great calamities, which, by his providence, have 
befallen mankind. 1 may add to the number, by bring- 
ing forward the transgression and sin of our first pa- 
rents ; the early and universal degeneracy of mankind: 
the destruction of the world by a general deluge ; the 
sudden and terrible destruction of Sodom and Gomor- 
rah ; the extirpation of the Canaanites, and the calami- 
ties which befell the Jewish nation, especially its final 
rain and dispersion at the destruction of Jerusalem. 
\gainst these severe and dreadful instances of God's 
displeasure, it might be a sufficient vindication of his 
goodness to say, that they were upon great and high 
provocations, after much patience and long suffering, 
with a mixture of mercy, and a declared readiness in 
(Jod to prevent or remove them by repentance. 

He proceeds to notice what he calls " some of the 
contradictions of the Methodists," namely, the con- 
nexion of God's free grace and man's (ree will, which 
^he says) can no more be united with solidity, in the 
same system, than the different materials of Nebu- 
chadnezzar's image/ namely, the gold, silver, iron, 
and clay." To give this something like support from 
Scripture, he cites Romans xi. 6 — " If by grace, then 
it is np more of works ; otherwise, grace is no more 
grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more of 
grace ; otherwise, work is no more work." He (though 
a rigid predestinarian.) betrays himself in his comment 
on, or inference from, this scripture, when he insinuates, 



FINAL PERSEVERANCE, 289 

that notwithstanding the foundation on which every 
thing is built, so that it cannot be altered, " this subject 
ought to be well considered by all serious minds : 
which ought to examine the question with the utmost 
care." Now I would ask Mr. P. what he means by 
consideration, if not a fair view of things as they are 
in themselves, and in their future bearings, with re- 
spect to our duty and interest ; that we may now and 
previously, provide for the future, by the adoption of 
such measures as are most likely to ensure the good, 
and avoid the evil ? 

The Methodist avers, that to sober reason, and un- 
biassed inquiry, there is not an admonit on, an expos- 
tulation, a reproof, a precept, a promise, or a threat 
ening, that is not predicated on the truth of his opi- 
nions : that to suppose God meaning a different thing 
from what he declares, would be either deception or 
mockery. How can we suppose the gift of light on the 
side of God, to be incompatible with the power of see- 
ing on the side of man ; or that the use which man is 
enabled to make of his eyes, must detract from the 
great honour due to God for giving both the light and 
the eyes ? Are sound and hearing incompatible ? Are 
air and lungs inconsistent and irreconcilable ? Is it pos- 
sible that men can attribute .such conduct to God, for 
the purpose of saying " that he can do what he pleases 
with his own ?" That God contrives present and ever 
lasting evil against his creatures, by an inevitable de* 
cree, which they cannot avoid by any possible exer- 
tion, is infinitely more difficult to reconcile with the 
dictates of reason and Scripture, than the doctrine of 
free-will, according to which, if man perish, it must be 
by his own fault, adopted and persevered in, though he 
knew the error, and had power to avoid it. 

OF FINAL PERSEVERANCE, 

Mr. P. quotes the General Conference, saying — t{ On 
this authority I believe that a saint may fall away ; 
that one who is holy in the judgment of God him- 
self, may nevertheless so fall from God, as to perish 

25 



290 FINAL PERSEVERANCE. 

everlastingly." To show something like a contra 
diction in this, he quotes — "Every one that trul} 
believeth hath everlasting life." How Mr. P. can see 
a contradiction in statements so consistent, I can hardly 
guess. The Scriptures, so far from holding out the 
3entiment, that if a person be once in grace he shall be 
ever in grace, and cannot fall from it, hold out various 
cautions and declarations to the contrary — as, that 
' many begin to build who do not finish" — " that many 
run in the race, who do not gain the prize" — that " it is 
not enough to enter in at the strait gate, without walk- 
ing in the narrow way" — that " he only who endureth to 
Ihe end shall be saved" — that " some make shipwreck 
of the faith." These serious statements challenge our 
belief and consideration. They must be considered as 
part of the great system of divine truth. 

Nothing is plainer to a cool spectator, than that a 
person may be in health to-day, but not so to-morrow 
— that for a branch to be in the vine now, does not argue 
against its being taken away at a future time. A good 
resolution taken up under the ardour of a present stimu- 
lus, may cool again. ' 

The impossibility of a final falling from grace is de- 
duced by some from Rom. viii. 38, 39 — M For I am 
persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
rhings to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
creature shall separate us from the love of God, which 
is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The Methodists acknow- 
ledge, that none of them can separate in the important 
matter alluded to. But they ask at the same time, 
with all possible candour, may not a man be so separa- 
ted by his own voluntary apostacy ? If a man's right 
to civil citizenship, should be called in question, we 
as advocating his right, on the ground of constitution 
and law, might declare, that " no opponent of his should 
deprive our client of his privilege." But it would 
not follow, nor should we design to affirm, that he 
might not forfeit it by treason, or lose the benefit of 
it by expatriation. 

But what shall we think of Rom. xi. 29, where we 
read that — " The gifts and calling of God are without 



FINAL PERSEVERANCE. 291 

repentance." These words are intended of the Jews, 
in their collective capacity. And indeed, the state of 
the Jews, is a powerful proof of the possibility of 
falling off, and fully sufficient to show every unpreju- 
diced individual, that persons once in a state of accept- 
ance with God, may be finally rejected by him. 

Our Saviour speaks very plainly on this head, John 
xii. 35— "Yet a little while, the light is with you ; walk 
while you have the light, least darkness come upon 
you." As if he had said, " my personal presence and 
teaching are among you, as the light of the world, 
which whoso folio weth shall not walk in darkness, but 
have the light of life.' 9 Ye should therefore walk 
while ye have the light, least the darkness come, 
which will be a dismal scene. 

There are a variety of terms made use of to call our 
most pointed attention to this very serious subject. We 
read of a " vineyard of his own right-hand planting, in 
consequence of not bringing forth fruit in season, de* 
stroyed" — of a casting away — of a breaking off — of a 
forsaking — of a giving up — a taking away — a being left 
desolate, &c. Christ assures us that if the opportunities 
afforded us be not improved, they shall be taken away. 

God's dealings with the Jews, who were a peculiar 
people, ought to admonish us of the danger of trifling 
with duty, or making free with sin of any kind, Rom. 
xi. 21 — " If God spared not the natural branches, take 
heed, least he also spare not thee." Does not this 
caution explicitly, and emphatically declare, that there 
may be an awful apostacy ? If God could not tolerate 
sin in the people, whom he had so long cherished, mi- 
raculously preserved, and blessed, we ought to be con- 
vinced, that the same righteous principle in him will 
cause him to act towards us, as he acted towards them ; 
if we sin after the similitude of their transgression. 

The parable concerning the husbandmen, who, in- 
stead of rendering to their Lord the fruits of his 
vineyard in due season, killed those whom he sent to 
them, is another awful instance of the possibility of 
" receiving the grace of God in vain." And though 
(his parable respected the Jews immediately as the pe 



20'2 FINAL PERSEVERANCE. 

euliar people of God, yet it does in a certain propor 
tion concern all that live unfruitfnlly under the Gospel, 

As the removal of the Gospel from any people is a 
great judgment in a spiritual view, so it is apt to be ac- 
companied with the greatest temporal calamities. It 
was so with the Jews, when — " The kingdom of God 
was taken from them." In consequence of God's for- 
saking them, they fell into the greatest disorders and 
confusions, exercising all sorts of violence and cruelt} 
on each other, being abandoned to all sorts of wicked 
ness and misery. 

The seven famous churches of Asia, to whom tin 
apostle John wrote his book of Revelation, furnish u<«; 
with another instance of temporal calamity, attendant 
on not bringing forth the fruits of righteousness in 
their season. The cities where those churches were 
originally established, were demolished, and laid waste 
to this day. So it has happened likewise to the flour* 
ishing cities of Africa, where Christianity is extinguish 
ed. Their site is become the seat of cruelty, barbarism, 
and slavery. 

In Matt. xxi. 19, We find our Saviour " cursing the 
fig-tree which he saw in the way, because he found 
nothing thereon but leaves only." Leaves are an out- 
ward show ; but if there be no fruit, we may justl) 
fear a curse. Our Saviour did not curse the tree for 
its own sake, but for our example. Our spiritual bar- 
renness must appear to every man of candour to be 
corrected and reproved in the curse which he pro 
aounced on the fig-tree. This tree was particularly 
intended to point out the state of the Jewish people. 
The time was now at hand when God expected good fruit 

Among the many considerations which God employs 
to discourage us from sin, one, of prime consideration 
is, that if a man be induced by any means to engage in 
an evil course, there is a great hazard of proceeding 
in it, being drawn on from one step to another, so that 
the farther he proceeds, the more rapidly i3 he carried 
forward by the violent stream. All error, whether of 
judgment or practice, is endless ; and when once a 
man is out of the way, the farther he goes the more 
difficult will his return be. Hence, he cautions men 



FTK_4X PERSEVERANCE. 293 

against the beginning of sin, as very dangerous ; or if 
they have already begun the evil course, why they 
should stop, consider, and without delay break off. 
least they should by degrees, be hardened in evil, and 
their case become desperate. Evil acts when repeat- 
ed and renewed, gradually grow into habits, and habits, 
into a second nature. When men have once worn off 
their shame, they are ready for any thing. Delicate 
travellers are very careful to guard against the first 
specks of mire : but when they have travelled a deep 
road for some time, to be soiled and bespattered, 
ceases to engage their serious concern. Men commit 
sin with greediness, and drink in iniquity as the thirsty 
ox drinketh in water. 

Changeableness is no small part of the human cha^ 
racter and condition. Life is a state exposed to a va- 
riety of strong temptations— our enemy the devil goeth 
about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour : 
— our state in the world is peccable, or liable to sin. 
Now if the first state in Paradise, blessed as it was 
with a more vigorous intellect, and a subjection of the 
affections to it, did not exempt the tirst pair from sin- 
ning, so as to subject themselves to the most awful 
penalty, can we suppose the state of regeneration to 
exempt any of their converted posterity from like 
hazard ? 

Sin of any sort is dangerous, particularly the sin 
which easily besets, and against which we ought to set 
a double guard. If a man once give way, how soon is 
he apt to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin ? 
An apostle tells us of a case, in which " those whe 
were once enlightened, and had tasted of the heavenly 
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and 
had tasted the good word of God, and the powers o£ 
the world to come, falling away, and it being impossi- 
ble to renew them to repentance." Now if these 
Scriptural instances of the possibility of falling away 
be not sufficiently plain proofs of the possibility of 
finally falling from grace, I hardly know what can be so, 

Ezekiel tells us of the possibility of li a righteous 
man falling away, and dying in his sin," And here lei 
25* 



294 FIN'AL PERSEVERANCE, 

it be seriously asked, and the question be seriously an- 
swered by Mr. P. or any other objectors, Why is the 
:ase introduced by the Prophet, and threatened by the 
awful penalty attached, if it be perfectly impossible 
'.hat any such case could ever happen ( They are ren- 
dered still more explicit by the frequent repetition of 
them. See Ezek. xviii. 26. 

But are we not told, Luke x. 20 — " Rejoice, that 
your names are written in heaven." This was ad- 
dressed to the seventy disciples, after the accomplish- 
ment of their mission. There is reference here to 
a register which \va? held on several occasions ; such 
as that which a general may keep of his army, or a 
pastor of his flock, or a city magistrate of the citizens. 
The name? may however be erased, in consequence of 
Jefault in the individuals. The names of the inhabi- 
tants of a city were registered in a book, that the seve- 
ral families might be known, and the inheritances pre- 
served. Such a register as this is called the book of 
life, where the persons were enrolled as they came 
into life. When any person died or behaved impro- 
perly, his name was sought out, and erased from this 
book. To the custom of blotting out the names of 
disorderly persons, there are frequent allusions. See 
Deut. xxxii. 32, Rev. iii. 5, Deut. ix. 14, 2 Kings xiv- 
27, Psal. lxix. 28. 

God sets a number of examples before us as warn- 
ings, Jer. vii. 12, &c. — "Go ye now unto my place, 
which was in Shiloh, where 1 set my name at the first, 
and see what 1 did to it, forth - wickedness of my peo- 
ple Israel. And now, because ye have done all these 
works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up 
nearly and speaking, but ye heard not ; and I called 
you, but ye answered not : I will cast you out of my 
sight, as I have cast out all your brethren." Which 
Mr. P. tells us, that " faith which can be lost, is not the 
faith of God's elect." Therefore, when our Saviour 
tells us that the " salt may lose its savour, and the light 
that is within us become darkness," Mr. P. must sup- 
pose him speaking, not of " true salt, or true light*" 
but of something fictitious. 



FINAL PERSEVERANCE. 295 

In Luke viii. 13, some are spoken of " who for a 
while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." 
The reason assigned for their falling away is, " they 
had no root in themselves." The term "root" is a 
mere figure, expressing permanency. Though they 
believed, they did not continue steadfast in the faith, 
but fell away. To this it may perhaps be replied., 
that " their faith was only historical and not saving." 
Any authorities may be got rid of, by thus creating dis- 
tinctions, concerning which there is not a word in 
Scripture. Now to suppose God to say one thing, and 
to mean another, is certainly trifling with the High and 
Holy One. 

When a Church, or people, or individuals are made 
acquainted with the true knowledge of God, by the 
ministry of his word ; if after some time, they not only 
slacken in their religious progress, but commit iniquity 
with greediness, " God will remove their candlestick 
out of its place," and consequently leave them in 
darkness, withdrawing his ministers, and " sending a 
famine of the word." 

What an awful charge does Moses bring against Is- 
rael, Deut. xxxii. 15, &c. — " Jeshurun waxed fat and 
kicked, and forsook God who made him, and lightly es- 
teemed the rock of his salvation." Upon this he men 
tions the awful consequences — " When the Lord saw 
it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his 
sons and of his daughters ; and he said, I will hide my 
face from them, and I will see what their end shall be : 
for they are a very froward generation." 

So far were the prophets and apostles from the pre- 
destinating scheme, which asserts that " once in grace" 
must infer " ever in grace," that they reprove the peo- 
ple of their day, who, instead of seeking the kingdom of 
heaven, or taking it by force, kept it oif by force, and 
refused to have Christ as their king to reign over them ; 
as if, as an old writer observes, " they were afraid of 
being happy ; or, as if a crown of glory would hurt 
tliem." They reproved some, for shutting their eyes 
against the plainest light, and refusing to be taught the 
way to heaven. 



296 FINAL PERSEVERANCE. 

In Luke xii. 42, &c. — Our Lord speaks of a faithful 
servant, who is made a ruler over his household, threat- 
ened, that in the event of an abuse of the authorities oi 
his station, " the Lord of that servant shall come in a 
day when he looketh not for him, and cut him asun- 
der, and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. " 

When Mr. P. reads of the Methodists setting before 
the people the necessity of right principles, in order to 
proper conduct," he calls this 4 ' an ill-natured cant. r 
When we see the best of things through the medium of 
i prejudiced eye, our description is hut caricatured re- 
presentation. Thus, the preaching of Christ crucified, 
was to the prejudiced Jew a stumbling-block, and to the 
Greek but foolishness. 

Christ tells us, John xv. G — " If men abide not in me, 
[hey are cast forth <is branches, and are withered, and 
men gather them, mid cast them into the fire, and they 
.ire burned." This very appropriate passage shows 
these branches were not only united to the vine, but 
drew nourishment and bore fruit. This could not re 
ier to any person who was merely of the visible church 
which is the general evasion employed to get rid of the 
lifficulty. Can there be a stronger description of mem- 
bership, than to be united to Christ as a branch to the 
vine ? And yet this branch may be at last withered, 
fallen, gathered, cast into the fire, and burned. 

Mr. P., in speaking of the General Conference giving 
examples of the doctrines of the Calvinistic churches, 
does it under the cover of a supposition that " they had 
not given the account fairly." When solid argument and 
sound proof are wanting, how apt are men to supply 
the place of fair statement by sly insinuation ? Now if 
surprise should happen to urge a person to err through 
want of time, or pressure ot business, there is room for 
some pleading on the side of mercy. Mr. Whitefield, a 
celebrated preacher of former times regretted that he 
had allowed the warmth of his zeal to carry him to the 
extreme of things. In his life, as published by Dr. 
Gillies., and republished at New-York in 1774, we 
have in page 81, the following acknowledgments, which 
he made after his arrival in England, at the new andun- 



FINAL PERSEVERANCE. 297 

expected situation in which he found himself, in conse- 
quence of carrying some things too far. His own words 
are — " What a trying scene appeared here ! In my zeal, 
during my journey through America, I had written two 
well-meant though INJUDICIOUS letters against Eng- 
land's two great favourites. The book called The 
whole duty of Man , and Archbishop Ttllotson, who, I 
said (in those letters) knew no more of religion than 
Mahomet." Mr. P. had no such excuse. 

" Destruction," is one of the names by which we are 
apprized of the danger of falling away. Thus, Rom. 
xiv. 15— -" Destroy not him with thy meat for whom 
Christ died." The matter here guarded against, is an 
undue use of Christian liberty. The person in con- 
templation is, a brother in Christ, and in the Christian 
church, from which he is in danger of being cast down 
and destroyed. 

We may " fail of enjoying what God has promised," 
by our unbelief or unfaithfulness. Hence the apostle 
advises the Hebrews, iii. 12 — " Take heed brethren, 
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in 
departing from the living God," and " Let us therefore 
fear lest a promise being left of entering into his rest, 
any of you should seem to come short of it." This pro- 
mise, however, has a condition attached to it, namely, 
" that the people and their elders were to hearken to 
the commands of God, and to obey them." Many fell 
short of the promise, however, and of those who were 
above the age of twenty years, only Joshua and Caleb 
entered the promised inheritance. 

" To perish," is another of the terms by which a 
final fall is expressed. Thus, 1 Cor. viii. 11 — "And 
through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, 
for whom Christ died." This passage enjoins the tem- 
perate use of Christian liberty, which, if carried to an 
undue length, may be productive of a final fall from the 
grace of God. There is a possibility of falling from 
ever so high and holy a state. Angels fell by disobe- 
dience — the fall of Adam is generally known and ac- 
knowledged — Solomon fell from a state of high favour 
with God— multitudes of true believers fell, of whose 



29o FINAL PERSEVERANCE. 

rise we have no account. They not only fell foully ; 
but for any thing we can tell, finally. 

Another of the terms of apostacy is, that of being a 
cast away, which must be of awful import. 1 Cor. 
ix. 27 — u I keep my body under, and bring it into sub 
jection, lest, by any means, when 1 have preached to 
others, I myself should be cast away." So says the 
great apostle of the Gentiles, with all his attainments, 
and after all his labours. 

Warnings are numerous. The state of fallen angels 
is made an awful caution, who kept not their first estate. 
Adam, though created in the image of God, was not be- 
yond the temptation of an enemy, and an awful fall 
Believers are warned to shun the example of Esau, who 
sold his birthright. The Jews who were brought out 
of Egypt, fell in the wilderness. Though Saul was 
elected of God, not only to be king of Israel, but to en- 
joy a number of spiritual privileges, 1 Kings xv., yet 
he was rejected afterward ; for the Spirit of the Lord 
departed from Saul, and an evil spirit troubled him, 
1 Sam. xvi. 14. Eli and hi? family were chosen as high- 
priests in the tabernacle of God, and for their sin, the 
high-priesthood was transferred to another family. 
God's vineyard may bring forth only sour grapes, and 
for this be trodden under foot. Names registered on 
the book of life are threatened with being blotted out. 
An evil spirit may be cast out of a sinner, who will af 
terward re-enter with seven other spirits worse than 
himself. Not only the candle, but the candlestick ma) 
be taken out of its place — the light that is in believers 
may become darkness. The salt may lose ite whole- 
some savour. The M dog may turn back to his vomit, 
and the sow that was washed to wallow in the mire. 5 * 
Those who for a while believe, in time of temptation, 
may fall away. A faithful servant, or wise steward, maj 
give his lord's household their portion in due season, 
or, by unfaithfulness, may neglect this, be cut off, and 
have his portion with hypocrites and unbelievers. The 
foolish virgins may neglect to procure a supply of oil 
for their lamps. A man abiding not in Christ, is cast 
forth as a branch that is withered, gathered up, casf 



FINAL PERSEVERANCE. 299 

into the fire, and burned. A brother may be destroyed 
with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Paul kept his 
body under, lest while he preached to others, he him- 
self should become a cast away. The Corinthians were 
to keep in memory the things they heard, otherwise 
they believed in vain. They who had begun in the 
spirit, might end in the flesh. The Hebrews are cau- 
tioned against the evil heart of unbelief, in departing 
from the living God : they are cautioned against coming 
short of entering into the rest which remains for the 
people of God. We may sin wilfully after receiving 
the knowledge of the truth, and have no more sacrifice 
for sin. Some draw back to perdition. Those who 
were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly 
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, may 
fall away, and find it impossible to be renewed to re- 
pentance. Some may escape the pollutions of the 
world through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ, and yet be entangled again therein, and 
overcome, and find the latter end worse than the be- 
ginning. It would be better for some not to have 
known the way of righteousness, than after they have 
known it, to turn from the holy commandment deliver- 
ed to them. We need to give diligence to make our 
calling and election sure. We must look to ourselves, 
that we lose not those things which we have wrought, 
but that we receive a full reward. A tree of God's 
planting may be cut down. The good seed may be 
carried away by the fowls of the air — or it may be 
overgrown and oppressed with weeds, and prevented 
in its growth. The good Scriptures may be wrested 
by the unlearned and unstable to their own destruction. 
If God spared not the natural branches, we have need 
to be cautious lest he should not spare us. Of those 
whom thou gavest me, have / lost none, except the son of 
Perdition. A Solomon maj become a rank idolater, and 
his recovery remain an uncertainty. Ten tribes of 
Israel went over to the calves of Jeroboam : were car- 
ried away captive, and never recovered. Some pro- 
ceeded so far as to count the blood of the covenant 
wherewith they were sanctified, an unholy thing, 
The believer is desired to see that no man take 



}00 FINAL PERSEVERANCE. 

his crown. Some make shipwreck of faith and a 
good conscience. The falling off of the Jews is a 
very strong warning to us. The husbandmen who 
returned not the fruits of the vineyard in due season, 
had the vineyard taken from them, which was given to 
other husbandmen. The cursing of the fruitless fig- 
tree, is an awful caution and warning. 

From all these scriptural proofs and pointed argu- 
ments, we cannot but see that the possibility of a final 
fall from a state of grace is repeatedly affirmed in lan- 
guage the most clear, explicit, and unreserved. It is 
demonstrable by a great variety of texts and contexts, 
in such perfect harmony, that he who reads may run. 
We are continually reminded of this by the great shep- 
herd and bishop of souls, and by the undershepherds in 
his service, that their cautions, and exhortations, and 
even the terrors of their threatenings may put us on our 
guard. Tins makes a great part of the general system of 
religion, as revealed in the Bible. All these particulars 
might be amplified to a great extent ; but they are ad- 
verted to, and adduced, in order to show Mr. P. that 
here is a text, or a number, or even a great number, 
which must show him, if he allow himself to read with 
unprejudiced eyes, that we are under duty and obliga- 
tion to God, and that we need to watch and pray, that 
we may not enter into temptation. 



•jf the reformation, and how far the re 

formers were predestlnariains, kc. 

OF LUTHER. 

Mr. P., not counting the cost, tells us " that Luther, 
and all the other reformers were rigid preclestinarians.*' 
To confirm this, he gives us some extracts from what 
Luther wrote in the beginning of his career. Now, i c 
it fair to aver that the system of Luther was predesti- 
narian in the highest degree, when it was only of the 
moderate kind ? Or. to state only his first principles, 



OP LUTHER. 301 

without stating also, that he departed from those prin 
ciples, as is well known, when his mind became more 
matured and enlarged. 

In the 6th volume of Luther's works, the reformer 
writes thus : " Concerning God as unknown, and not 
laid open by his word, to know any thing of what he is. 
what he does, and what he wills, does not belong to me. 
But this belongs to me — to know what he has taught, 
what he has promised, and what he has threatened. 
When you intensely meditate on these things, you find 
God. Yea, he himself gathers you into his bosom ; 
from which, if you fall, that is, if you presume to know 
any thing beyond those things which he has revealed 
in his word, you rush into the abysses of hell." We 
should therefore have nothing to do with secret de- 
crees. 

Luther, in his last work of importance, which was 
his commentary upon Genesis, apologises for what he 
had formerly written concerning predestination. " I 
wrote, among other matters, that all things are absolute 
and necessary : but at the same time I added, that God 
is to be viewed as revealed in his word. 5 ' Again : 
'You who hear me will remember my having taught 
vhat there is to be no inquiry after the predestination of 
an hidden God ; but there is to be an acquiescence in 
those things which are revealed.'" 

In regard to the doctrine of final perseverance, Dr. 

Laurence recites pointed testimonies against it from 

" the works of Luther himself, as well as from those of 

Melancthon ; from the Wirtemburg Confession, and from 

various other documents. 

The Lutheran reformation was greatly regarded in 
England, as it respects the Protestant establishment, in 
the days of Edward VI. Calvin and his associates were 
so far from agreeing with Luther, or the church of 
England, on the doctrine of the co-operation of man 
with the grace of God, that they insisted that man must 
be as passive under the divine influence of grace, as a 
dead body under a miraculous restoration to life. 

It is well known, that whatever attachment to the 
predestinating scheme might have existed in the mind 

26 



302 OF MELANCTHON. 

of Luther, or the Lutheran divines, that the said attach* 
ment had been done away when there was delivered to 
the Emperor and the Diet at Augsburg, in 1530, the 
celebrated confession which still continues to be the 
standard of the faith of the Lutheran Churches. In 
that Confession, the peculiarities of Calvinism are un- 
touched. Luther was still living, and it is certain that 
the Diet never published any Calvinistic opinions, but 
passed them by in silence. It was Melancthon, who, un- 
der the eye of Luther, made his own elegant pen the 
instrument of the draft of that Confession. Besides 
this, Luther publicly commended one of Melancthon's 
anti-Calvinistic works, and lived in friendship with him 
until the death of the venerable reformer, which took 
place in 1546, sixteen years after the Confession of 
Augsburg. 

OF MELANCTHON. 

Exactly in agreement with the opinion of Luthei \ 
was his friend Mclancthon, concerning the stoical dispu- 
tations agitated in their communion at the beginning. 
The Augsburg Confession of Faith, which was deliver- 
ed to the emperor and Diet at Augsburg, in the year 
1530, and which continues to be the standard of the 
faith of the Lutheran Churches, was the product of his 
pen, under the eye of Luther, who was yet alive. At 
the infancy of the reformation in Germany, an inter- 
course took place between those concerned in it and 
Archbishop Cranmer, who had a chief hand in framing 
the religious or doctrinal system of the Church of Eng- 
land at this time. Melancthon, in one of his letters, thus 
opens his mind to the archbishop on the subject of pre- 
destinanan disputations : " Too dreadful in the begin- 
ning, were the disputations concerning fate, and they 
were an injury to discipline." 

During the w T hole time in which the articles of the 
Church of England were under consideration, the divi- 
nity chair in the University of Cambridge was kept va- 
cant,with the hope of its being filled by Melancthon,who 
"had received pressing invitations to it. Bishop Lati- 



OF ERASMUS. 303 

iner took notice of it in a sermon preached before the 
king, wishing success to the design. 

The distinction between elect and non-elect infants, 
found in the famous form of Concord, was drawn up in 
1549, as follows: "Moreover we (Calvinists) indus- 
triously teach, that God does not promiscuously im- 
print his energy on all (infants) that receive the sacra- 
ments ; but only on the elect." Melancthon was so 
offended by this passage, that he indignantly tore it from 
the copy sent to him. 

In 1551, happened the controversy between Calvin 
and the physician Balsec, concerning which, Melanc- 
thon writes thus : " Lelius has written to me, that so 
great are the contentions at Geneva concerning stoical 
necessity, that a certain person dissenting from Zeno. 
has been shut up in prison. Oh unhappy event!" 

Not only the Confession of Augsburg, but that of 
Wirtemburg, in which Melancthon had a principal hand, 
shows how widely the Lutherans differed from their 
brethren of Geneva. 

OF ERASMUS. 

Mr. P., who makes no very accurate distinctions be- 
tween particulars and generals, tells us that Erasmus 
was a man who had joined the protestants in the days 
of the reformation ; but afterward wrote and publish- 
ed a book, with which the Methodists are much pleased, 
because it maintains their doctrines. Erasmus having 
written a paraphrase on the New Testament, the great- 
est deference was paid to it, particularly in England in 
the days of Edward VI., there being a royal injunction 
for placing a copy ofthat on the Gospels in every Church 
throughout the realm, that " the people might read 
therein, and that the entire paraphrase should be in 
the hands of the Clergy." 

The paraphrase of Erasmus, instead of going to the 
lengths of Calvin, is full of sentiments directly contrary 
to the predestinarian system. On Matt. xi. 25, " I 
thank thee, O Father," &c, it runs thus — " I thank 
fhee , O Father 5 because thou hast hidden this heavenly 



304 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

wisdom from them that are high-minded, and puffed up 
with pride, through an opinion of their own worldly 
wisdom and policy, and hast revealed it to the little 
ones, and the meek, and to such as in the judgment oi 
the world are reputed but fools. Truly, so it is, Fa 
ther ; for so it seemed best to thy goodness ; to teach 
that thou art not pleased with the stout, and that those 
who are despised by the world, should be great with 
thee for their simplicity a 71 d faith." 

His paraphrase on Luke x. 20, respecting the names 
written in heaven, runs thus : " It is not expedient for 
you to vaunt yourselves, because -pirits are subject to 
you, for these thing- maj be done by evil and wicked 
men. But rejoice in this thing, that your names are. 
already written in heaven. For thither shall your meek 
ntss and lowliness bring you, if ye continue in your in- 
tents and purposes 

In his paraphrase on the Epistles, he applies what is 
said of -J;. cob and Esau, to the temporal inheritance. 
He prefaces what is said of Pharaoh in the same chap- 
ter, bj saj ing that tc God floes not harden men's hearts, 
as that they are thereby caused to discredit the Gospel 
of Christ; but such as through malice and stubborn- 
ness refuse to believe, God uses as instruments to mag 
nify his great benefits, and to set forth his mighty and 
glorious power." 

CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

It is apparent from facts and dates, that the institu- 
tions of the Church of England were framed without 
any reference to Calvinism. A near affinity subsisted. 
as well in correspondence as in opinion, between the 
reformers of the Church of England and the Lutheran 
divines. In Mary's reign, the Protestants of England 
were put to death for being Lutherans, but not as CaL 
vinists. 

The first incident which brought the clashing of opi 
nions into public view in England, was at Cambridge, 
in 1 585. Dr. Baroe had in his lectures preached pub- 
licly against absolute decrees and reprobation^ and a- 



CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 305 

appears, without offence. Collier quotes Bishop Jewel 
and Dean Nowel, who speak decisively to the point of 
universal redemption. 

In the year 1585, the dispute took place between 
Mr. Hooker, (the author of Ecclesiastical Polity,) and 
Mr. Travers. The complaint of Mr. Travers was, that 
Mr. Hooker had preached against absolute predestina- 
tion. In Mr. Hooker's reply, he says — " I termed 
God a permissive, and no positive cause of sin : 2dly, 
to their objection, who say, ' If I be elected, do what I 
will, I shall be saved. 5 I answered, that the will of God 
25 not absolute in this thing, but conditional, saving his 
elect who believe, fear, and obey him." 

The Church of England, in her XVIIth article, adopts 
the doctrine of election or predestination to everlasting 
life, as "full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable com- 
fort to godly persons.'' This article is altogether silent 
as to reprobation. Besides, it does not speak definitely s 
but indefinitely, of the elect in general. So Malancton, 
as quoted by Dr. Laurence in his " Sacri Theologici," 
makes election to respect a church from among men in 
general. So the apostle Paul speaks of Jews and Gen- 
tiles as converts to Christianity. 

The XXXIst Article offers a free redemption to all 
mankind. The words are — " The offering of Christ 
once made, is that perfect redemption, propitiation and 
satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both ori- 
ginal and actual." The council of Trent, in anathema- 
tizing the doctrines of this Church, does not bring in a 
single charge against it, as holding the doctrine of a par- 
ticular redemption. 

The Vllth Article says, " In both the Old and New 
Testaments, everlasting life is offered to mankind 
through Christ." Here, also, a term of wide interpre- 
tation is employed. ' Mankind' must certainly mean 
all mankind, and not a hw. 

The Catechism asks, " What dost thou chiefly learn 
in these articles of thy belief?" And answers thus— 
"First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath 
made me and all the world. Secondly, in God the 
Son. who hath redeemed me and all mankind." Now 
26* 



306 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

if the Church of England were Calvinistic, how couki 
such an answer be put into the mouths of the young ot* 
both sexes ? 

In the homily for Good Friday, we read, " So well 
pleased is the Father, Almighty God, with Christ his 
Son, that for his sake he favour eth us, and will deny us 
nothing. So pleasant was this sacrifice and oblation of 
his death, that we should take it for the only and full 
amends for all the sins of the world." 

In the homily concerning the Sacrament, it says,. 
'" Now it followeth, to have with this knowledge a sure 
and constant faith, that the death of Christ is available 
for the redemption of all the world'** In the prayer for 
the consecration of the sacramental elements, it speaks. 
• Who madest there, (upon the cross) a full, perfect, 
and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction ybr the 
ijnl of the whole world" 

In the invitation to trie Communion, are these words. 
4 As the Son of God did vouchsafe to offer up his soui 
by death upon the cross for your salvation, &x." i. e. 
ill present. 

To such as attend the Lord's Table, the address to 
eacli is, u The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which 
was ghenfor thee" &c. and * 4 The blood of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee" 

On Ash Wednesday we have, " Who hatest nothing 
that thou hast made," and in another place, M Who hast 
compassion upon all men, and hatest nothing that thou 
hast made, who wouldest not the death of a sinner , but 
rather that he should turn front his sin and be saved," 

On Good Friday, we have " O merciful God, who 
hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast 
made, nor desirest the death of a sinner, but rather 
that he should be converted and live." 

The Absolution expresses of our Lord Jesus Christ 
that " He desireth not the death of a sinner." The 
Litany invokes, " That it may please Thee to have 
mercy upon all men," and again, k '0 Lamb of God. 
who takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy 
peace," and " O Lamb of God, who takest away the sin* 
of the world, have mercy upon us." The general 



CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 307 

thanksgiving gratefully acknowledges God's " inestima- 
ble love in the redemption of the world, by our Lord 
Jesus Christ." 

Under this weight of evidence, from the plain and 
obvious sense of the articles, the homilies, the cate- 
chism, and the prayers, it is natural to ask, on what 
grounds can it be maintained, tbat they speak only of a 
partial redemption, intended only for a select few, from 
which the rest of the world is excluded ? 

Archbishop Cranmer, and Bishops Ridley, Hooper, 
and Latimer, were consulted in, and approved of, the 
establishment made in their day. Indeed, the two first 
mentioned have left no literary remains under their 
names. They who speak of the Calvinism of Cranmer 
and Ridley, carefully avoid all historic facts. They 
forget also to speak of the long intercourse of the 
Church of England with the Lutheran Churches and 
Divines. At the burning of Ridley and Latimer, the 
persecutors had a sermon preached on the occasion, in 
which they inveigh against the errors of Luther, Oeco- 
lampadius, and Zuinglius, but not a word is spokeEi 
against the errors of Calvin. 

The only document which Bishop Hooper profess 
edly gave to the public was, an exposition of the Ten 
Commandments. His words, as given by Dr. Lau- 
rence, are very plain. ''The cause of reprobation 
or damnation, is sin in man, who will neither hear nor 
receive the promise of the Gospel. The cause of our 
election is the mercy of God in Christ. Howbeit, he 
that will be a partaker of this election, must receive the 
promise of Christ by faith" He goes on, u In justifica- 
tion and the remission of sin there is a cause, though 
no dignity at all in the receive!" of his justification. 
We judge him by the Scripture to be justified, and to 
have remission of sins, because he received the grace pro- 
mised by Christ^ Again ; "4t is not the Christian's 
part to say, God has written fatal laws, and with the 
necessity of destiny violently pulletk one man by the hah 
into heaven, and thrusteth another headlong into hell.'' 
Again ; Si The promise of God comprehendeth all men: 
howbeit; within certain limits and bounds, the which 



308 church or England. 

if men neglect, they exclude themselves from the pro 
mise of Christ ; as Cain was no more excluded than 
Abel till he excluded himself; Saul than David ; Judas 
than Peter ; or Esau than Jacob. 1 ' 

Good old Bishop Latimer saith, in his sermon on the 
marriage of the king's son, %t The promises of Christ 
our Saviour are general : they pertain to all mankind.'' 
Again, " Almighty God prepared tbis feast for all the 
world ; for all that will come to it." In the Sermon for 
Septuagesima Sunday, we have, " There are none of as 
if 11 but may be saved by Christ/' 

In the first Eoglish Bible, printed after the Reform 
ation, and conducted by the English Reformers, the 
prologue to the Epistle to the Romans runs thus. M In 
this Epistle, St Paul sheweth the Gospel], and grace 
thereof was foreseen and predestinate of God from 
tefore the begynninge ; deserved thorowe Christe, and 
at the last sent fort he, that all men should beleve 
'hereon, therebve to be justify ed, made righteouse, and 
happy, to be delyvered from under the dampnacyonoi 
the law. 

The following is a summary of the first chapter — 
■• The everlastving ordinance ttjfl election of God in 
■avynge all men thorowe Christe Jesus his Sonne. — 
We are ordayned to good works/ 1 Now if these good 
men were Calviuists, how terribly must they have 
' laddered against their system ! 

The doctrine of " Elect and non-elect infants" was 
not known in the Church until the introduction oi 
Calvinism. The Church of England pronounces posi- 
tively concerning all baptized infants that they are 
saved, and this has been shown to be the result of the 
principles of her system. Concerning other infants, 
she sayja nothing, but conceives favourably concerning 
all infants. 

When the reformation had begun to dawn, the re- 
formers naturally seized with avidity on the wholesome 
truths which they found in Austin's works. But it 
happened also, that some of them took from those 
works not only the silver and the gold, but also a con- 
siderable proportion of the wood, and hay. and stub 



CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 309 

ble. The Xfth article declares, that " We are account- 
ed righteous before God, only for the merit of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," yet this faith, though 
opposed to merit, is not opposed to practice. Hence the 
Xllth article affirms — " Albeit that good works which 
are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, can- 
not put away our sins and endure the severity of God's 
judgment ; yet they are pleasing and acceptable to 
God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true 
and lively faith, inasmuch as by them a lively faith may 
be as evidently known, as a tree discerned by its fruit. 

The homilies of the Church of England assert, that 
cc These things must go together : upon God's part his 
great mercy and grace : upon Christ's part the satis- 
faction of God's justice : and upon our part, faith in 
the merits of Christ.'' God graciously accepts the 
returning sinner through Christ. 

The XVlth article, entitled " Of sin after Baptism," 
says, " After we have received the Holy Spirit, we 
may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by 
the grace of God we may rise again and mend our 
lives.' ' Here we see the possibility of a fall. " We 
may depart from grace," and the possibility, but not 
the absolute certainty of a rise, " We may rise again." 
In the homily " Qf falling from God" after reciting 
the threatenings of God to his vineyard, we read, " By 
these threatenings we are monished and warned, that 
if we bring not forth good grapes, he will pluck away 
all defence, and finally give us over." 

In visiting the sick, the minister is to suppose every 
sick person to be within the reach of mercy. Hence 
he exhorts him : inquires concerning his faith in 
Christ, repentance for his sins, and being in charity 
with all men. The Lord's supper is then administer- 
ed. 

This charitable sentiment follows the silent dead to 
the grave. While the attendants pray for final rest 
for themselves, they add, "aswe hope this our brother 
or sister doth." They pray also, " Suffer us not at 
our last hour for any pains of death to fall from thee/' 
showing the possibility of such a fall. 



310 toplady's history 

I hope that what is here said, is sufficient to show 
Mr. P. and every candid reader, that he was greatly 
mistaken when he asserts in sect. 5, that •• thedoctrines 
of Calvinism were the religious sentiments and opinions 
of all protestants in the days of the reformation." 

But to make this matter still more glaring, Mr. P. 
brings in a quotation from the pen of Mr. Toplady, 
which is known not to have been the most delicate in 
the world, charging Mr. Wesley vvith writing a letter- 
to a priest of the Church of Rome, in which Mr. 
Wesley levels all distinction- between one profession 
and another, particularly between popery and protes- 
tantism. 80 fir was Mr. Wesley from being of this 
mind, that be always looked 0.1 right principles as con- 
nected with right practice. In his preaching, printed 
sermons, journals, tracts, Christian Library, history, 
magazines, and in several pieces written expressly 
against Popery, lie shows how very far he was from 
coinciding with the tenets of Popery. As Mr. P. 
brings this from Mr. Toplady, it would be well to no- 
tice hi B moment what foundation he had for his as- 
sertion. There 1-. however, an observation on Mr. 
T. s work, which 1 feel much disinclined to make : it 
respects the supercilious contempt with which he treats 
those who entertain opinions different from his own. 
This is a conduct which mu-t disgrace the best of 
causes, and add strength to none, instead of forming 
an attack with rational coolness, he levels every sort 
of artillery against the doctrines and persons of the 
Methodists, with the most rancorous violence. 

OF THE REV. AUGUSTUS TOPLADY'S HISTORY OU 
CALVINISM. 

His zeal for Calvinism was such, that it seemed to be 
his sentiment, " no Calvinist, no Christian." Mr. T. 
takes the Calvinism of the Church of England for grant- 
ed, without bringing any proofs to support such a de- 
claration. He explains the term, " the whole world, 5 ' 
in the XXXIst Article, as meaning " the world of be- 
Hevers." Wherever " grace" occurs in the Articles , 



OF CALVINISM. 311 

&c, it is made to mean irresistible grace. Wher- 
ever predestination is mentioned as founded on the 
divine foresight of faith and works, he makes that to 
signify absolute predestination. Where the Duke of 
Somerset, who was protector in the days of Edward VI. 5 
mentions himself as recorded in the book of life, Mr. 
T. thinks it implies an impossibility of erasure. Where 
Edward prayed to be taken among the chosen, or elect, 
Mr. T. must couple this with reprobation. He tells 
us that Luther did not believe the being of God more 
firmly than he believed the final perseverance of the 
elect; whereas, the doctrine is left out of the Confes- 
sion of Augsburg. Mr. T. gives us his own inference 
from Latimer's Sermons, as favouring the rejection of 
a certain number of the human race, at the same time 
that the Bishop tells us that " Christ shed as much 
blood for Judas as for Peter." 

Personal abise was the weapon in the use of which 
Mr. T. was very expert. By an intolerant zeal for 
system, he is very often not only warm, but outrageous, 
Mr. T. having engaged in controversy with Mr. Wesley 
and Mr. Sellon, besides the contempt which Mr. T. 
presumes to express for those antagonists, makes very 
free with ter r«s of abuse, which do not argue coolness 
or deliberation. He calls them a " pair of insignificant 
adversaries,'" accusing them of" fraudulent perversion 
of truth." He calls Mr. Sellon " retailer general, 
white-washer in ordinary, understrapper, and pack- 
horse to Mr. Wesley, and a small body of Pelagian di- 
vinity, bound in calf, neither gilt nor lettered." He 
goes onto pronounce him " too blind to see, and too dis- 
ingenuous to acknowledge ; not able to distinguish a bar- 
ber's basin from a helmet, and as dipping his pen in the 
common sewer." These sweet-smelling nicknames 
are but a few of the flowers of Mr. T.'s contentious 
eloquence, taken from the production of which Mr, 
P. boasts so much. The whole face of the work is 
scattered over with flowers of the same hue and scent. 
After all this abuse, Mr. T. apologizes for not being 
more severe, and says he was " fearful of sinning 
against Christian meekness, and that he would much 
rather endure scurrility than offer it." 



(312) 



OF THE REV. MR. MILKER'S CHURCH HISTORY 

Mr. P. makes frequent reference to this work. Mr, 
M. is a Calvinist, though not intolerant. Notwithstand- 
ing this, he can never find Christian doctrine except in 
alliance with Calvinism. His many quotations from 
the ancient fathers of the Christian Church, show that 
he thought they must abound in sentiments of genuine 
truth. Mr. M. has selected specimens of this with judg- 
ment ; and in doing so, has not confined himself to ex- 
tracts savouring of Calvinism. 

The only evidence of any thing like this, is in the 
Epistle of St. Clement, in the use of the terms " elect/' 
and il election." These terms have been explained 
already . 

Ignatius directs hi> Epistle to the Church of Ephc- 
sus — " predestinated before the world to be perpe- 
tually permanent in glory, immoveable, united, an(i 
elect, in the general suffering." Now, as this Epistle 
- written to the whole Church, it shows that not one 
'fall its members need be lost, or reprobated. 

Among the Bishops of this period, Hdsitis ofCordu- 
ba, Paphnutius, and man] . of primitive in- 

tegrity, knew nothing of the doctrines afterward cm- 
t :l by Austin and Calvin. 
Justin Martyr wrote many things concerning the free- 
dom of the will. In his second Apology, he says — 
•If things were brought about by fate, then there 
would be nothing in our power : One man could not be 
intended for doing goad, or another blamed for doin^ 
harm." 

Ireneus lived at the close of the second century, lie 
-,i)S, " There is no force from God. but a favourable 
disposition is alv. -ent to him. He has placed a 

power of choice in man." 

Tertullian Jived in the same age with Ireneus. He 
speaks of freewill, but not a word of tne predestinating 
scheme. 

Clemens of Alexandria, was cotemporary with Ter- 
tullian. In his book called Pedagogus, he handles the 
Christian principles, but says nothing on Calvinism* 



MILNER'S CHURCH HISTORY. 313 

Cyprian, Arnobius, and Minutius, say nothing about 
the predestinating scheme, though Cyprian's works be 
many and large, and on a variety of subjects. 

Eusebius gives us a general history of the Christian 
Church from the days of the apostles, but says nothing 
of God's absolute sovereignty, or of a discriminating 
election. 

The fathers cf the fourth century are pointedly 
against the sense of Austin and Calvin. 

Jerome says, " The vessels of wrath are the people 
of Israel, who would not receive the Son of God : the 
vessels of mercy are those who received him of their 
own accord." 

Hilary rejects absolute and unconditional predesti- 
nation. " They are the children of the promise," 
says he, " whom God foreknew as those who would 
receive the promise ," 

Basil speaks thus : " Let us not think that Pharaoh 
was made bad ; for then the blame would be transfer- 
red to his Maker. He is a vessel of wrath who receives 
into himself every operation of the devil." 

Cyril of Alexandria, in commenting on Matt. xx. 23 r 
speaks thus : " It is not mine to grant you the highest 
seat, but to those whom the highest degree of effort in 
contending shall have commended to it." 

Chrysostom tells us, " that God calls all men ; and 
that Christ died for all men." The name of Chrysos- 
tom deserves to have an especial stress laid upon it, 
because of his great piety, and eminent reputation m 
the Christian Church. 

At length arose Austin, who, in his early writings, 
trod in the steps of his predecessors. But having his 
mind afterward irritated by the Pelagians, got into the 
track of a discriminating providence, which precluded 
a great part of mankind from the possibility of being; 
saved. His name gave a currency to his opinions \ 
and their being countenanced by the papal chair, ri- 
veted the chain. For the same church which had 
sainted Chrysostom, for the doctrines of free will and 
universal grace, enjoined silence on those who com* 
plained of the harshness of Austin's opinions. 

27 



314 PRINCIPLES OF 

Among the quotations of Mr. Milner from Austin, is 
that father's application of the 7th chapter of Romans, 
concerning the struggle between the flesh and the spi- 
rit, which he applies to the apostle himself, before his 
acceptance of Gospel grace. This is a construction of 
the passage, evidently subversive of Calvinism. Besides 1 ; 
on the subject of universal redemption, on which Aus- 
tin had been reserved, Mr. M. delivers himself thus : 
" The notion of particular redemption was unknown to 
the ancients, and 1 wish it had remained equally un- 
known to the moderns." It may be questioned how 
far it is fair for Mr. M. to call his own opinions " Cal- 
vinistic," when they do not hang together with the con- 
sistency of that system, and when, in a very important 
point, they openly contradict it. 

PRINCIPLES OF THE METHODISTS. 

Mr. P. having nothing more in his book demanding 
an answer, I think it fair now to draw up, in a few out- 
lines, a short sketch of the principles of Methodism, 
which continues to advance in every direction. 

The Reverend John Wesley, who, under God, was 
the principal instrument in this great revival of reli- 
gion, was one, by whom God wrought mightily, to the 
pulling down of the strong holds of sin, and to the 
erection of the kingdom of Christ upon its ruins. 
Eminently fitted for instructing ignorance, reproving 
error, alarming the profane, and directing the peni- 
tent, his preaching was made the savour of life to 
many. 

When it pleased God to send forth this eminent ser- 
vant into his vineyard, the men of that period, in a very 
general sense, instead of preaching the Gospel, or that 
we are sinners saved by grace, had in a great mea- 
sure gone back to the follies of heathenism again ; and 
natural religion threatened the utter extinction of 
Christianity. 

Instead of an amusing sophistry, Mr. Wesley made 
use of plain truth for plain people, and of set purpose, 
abstained from what could only amuse the ear withou 
amending the heart. 



THE METHODISTS, 315 

In a spirit which breathed glory to God, the first 
ministers of this name convened to hold their first 
Conference, at which were present, the Rev. John 
Wesley, the Rev. Charles Wesley, the Rev. John 
Hodges, and several others. Here they resolved, that 
all things should be considered as in the immediate 
presence of God, and referred to his glory. 

Having entered on the great work of preaching the 
Gospel, in the true spirit of the Evangelic office, they 
were providentially directed and acknowledged. Thou- 
sands who were so careless before, as to live with- 
out God in the world, were awakened to a just sense 
of their guilt and danger, and directed to Christ as 
their only and all-sufficient Saviour. 

It is to be acknowledged with serious regret, that 
too many pulpits and presses abound still with what is 
very far from being the Gospel of Christ, or the sin- 
cere milk of the word. It is still publicly announced. 
that " a good moral life contains the whole sum and 
substance of the Christian Religion." 

Their labours were not confined to the first princi- 
ples of religion, but took in its progress also, compre- 
hending not only deep conviction, genuine sorrow, sin- 
cere repentance, and a free justification ; but the sanc- 
tification of a believer, dominion over sin, piety to God. 
and active benevolence to man. 

Mr. Wesley being a very correct scholar, as well as 
possessed of a sound understanding, was providentially 
led to write on almost every subject, connected with 
the edification of genuine Christians. 

His Notes on the New Testament, though short, are 
always judicious, accurate, spiritual, and impressive ; 
and possess the rare and happy property of leading 
the reader immediately to God, and to an inspection of 
his own heart. 

His Sermons are highly valuable for a clear state- 
ment of divine truth, and an impressive application of 
it. The subjects of his sermons comprehend the va- 
rious doctrines of the Gospel system. They do not 
appear in artificial tinsel^ but as addressed to the heart 
and mind. 



■>!(> PRINCIPLES OF 

His controversial pieces are on some of the mos; 
important truths in the Bible, immediately connected 
with holiness of heart and life. His arguments are ta- 
ken up with coolness, handled with precision, and main- 
tained in a masterly manner. 

His Hymns, with those of his brother Charles, ami 
a selection from other authors, form a volume, which, 
for real excellence, is probably the first in the English 
language. They are the addresses of the heart to the 
Father of Mercies, in that worship which comprehends 
glory to God and profit to man. 

Through the peculiar providence of God, he wa? 
spared as a father to his large connexion for many 
years, having the pleasure to see the good work ad- 
vance in every direction, and to prosper remarkably 

As a member of the Methodist Church, I feel a se- 
rious interest in the constant preservation of our doc- 
trine and discipline in their scriptural and rational 
purity. The purport of the present sketch is to show 
the principles which we profess, and the necessity of 
guarding with care and fidelity the sacred deposit. 

OF GOD. 

We believe that God is the Self-existent, Eternal. 
Independent, Almighty Being, whose purposes and ac- 
tions spring from himself, without foreign motive or in- 
fluence. He is Absolute in dominion: the First Cause, 
and great Upholder of all things : Eternally Self-Suf- 
ficient. Infinitely Happy, because infinitely Good, 
Unconfined in his Immensity. Above all human con- 
ception or description. A Pure, Spiritual, and Simple 
Essence. He is Just, Merciful, True, Holy, Wise, as well 
as Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Unchangeable. He is 
a Being who from his Infinite Wisdom cannot err ; and 
who from his Infinite Goodness can do nothing but what 
is just and kind. This is the God whom we acknow* 
ledge as our First Cause and Last End : the Great 
Object of our faith, trust, love, worship, and obedience . 



THE METHODISTS. 317 



OF THE TRINITY. 

The original term Elohim, or God, implies a plu- 
rality. This appears in the Sacred Writings to be 
confined to three persons. The doctrine of the 
Trinity has formed a part of the creed of all who hare 
been deemed sound in the Christian faith. Christians 
are baptized in the name of the Father, and Son, and 
Holy Ghost. The Christian Benediction is, "The grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the 
fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all." What 
God has been pleased to reveal on this subject, the 
Methodists do not think to be a point of indifference, 
but of the highest importance, entering into the very 
heart of Christianity. It is a principal part of the 
Gospel, that the Spirit bears witness with our spirits, 
that the Father has accepted us through the merits of 
his Son. 

OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, 

He is not only God, but the true God. He was in the 
beginning with God. All things were made by him. 
His Omnipresence is where two or three meet together 
in his name. His Omniscience knows all things. He 
could say to the raging sea u Be still ;" to Lazarus, in 
his grave, " Come forth." He has all power in heaven 
and earth. He is the same to-day as yesterday, and 
remains the same for ever. He is the great object of 
our worship. An epistle is directed to all that in every 
place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. He 
could say to his apostles,, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." 
Faith, is a divine honour challenged by him. " Ye be- 
lieve in God, believe also in me." He is the object 
of our hope, being ?.* Christ in us, the hope of glory." 
Divine praise is due " to Him, who hath loved us and 
washed us from our sins in his own blood." A day, 
which may be called the Christian Sabbath, is conse- 
crated to his worship and service. The great and 
final Judgment, which shall decide the everlasting con* 
27* 



318 PRINCIPLES or 

ditions of men is his prerogative. We must stand 
before the judgment-seat of Christ. Who but He, 
who is God, can collect, weigh, scrutinize, and decide 
on every thought, word, and work, according to then 
*rue character, nature, meaning, and consequence ? 

OF THE FIRST PAIR IN PARADISE. 

In the great system of the world we see the clearest 
marks of an infinitely wise and supreme power, in the 
beauty, order, variety, and magnificence of the whole. 
Me conferred peculiar favours on man. When about 
to be formed, a divine consultation was held. He was? 
made after the ima^e of God. He was constituted 
ruler over the other creatures. He had his name im-» 
mediately from God. While other creatures grovel, 
man was formed erect. Blessed with the powers oi 
speech and reason, a peculiar spot was provided for 
his reception, enriched with all good things. 

OF THE FALL OF MAN. 

T his condition was not a state of reward, but of trial 
The test of man's obedience was adapted to his local 
situation. " Of a certain tree thou shalt not eat.' 
Satan, a fallen angel, was permitted to put the fidelity 
of man to trial, who made use of the serpent, as an 
agent. Under this creature he lay hid, and seduced our 
:irst parents from their integrity. 

OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER THE FALL. 

The fall from innocence and happiness, to guilt ant] 
misery, was a change of which our first parents, in a 
short time, became very sensible. Then their eyes 
were opened to see something of this ; yet their mind 
was clouded. They made an effort to hide themselves 
from the all-pervading eye of God. Adam acknow- 
ledged his violation of the law, but in such a manner, 
as to involve his partner. Eve wishes to lay the blame 
upon the serpent. Punishment followed sin. God 



THE METHODISTS. 319 

pronounces the awful sentence. They become mor- 
tal, falling under a great variety of unfriendly agencies, 
until the Spirit should return to God that gave it, and 
the body to dust. 

OF THE EFFECTS OF THE FALL UPON THE 
OFFSPRING OF ADAM. 

Of fallen Adam and his offspring, as it may justly be 
said, " that such as the root was, such were the branch- 
es, so as it respects fallen Adam, and his fallen offspring. 55 
The original sin still taints human nature, and corrupts 
human practice. Men aim at being happy out of God's 
way, procuring pleasure by unlawful means. They 
live without God in the world. Privacy is the vail for 
crimes. Few confess them ingenuously. What pre- 
varication and misrepresentation are used? The punish- 
ment inflicted on Eve, still attends her daughters, in 
the languors and sorrow attendant on conception, 
pregnancy, and child-bearing. The ground which was 
originally cursed for the sin of man, still feels the ap- 
plication of that punishment. How often are the fruits 
of his hard toil destroyed ? If labour be continued to 
any length of time, profuse sweat may remind him of 
his sin and punishment. Sickness, pain, decrepitude, 
and death are awful monuments also. 

OF THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND BY OUR LORD 
JESUS CHRIST. 

Redemption places before us the greatest work that 
can be submitted to human consideration. In this act 
of God, the attributes of Justice and Mercy appear to 
be peculiarly exercised, and their claims divinely 
harmonized. This great plan has been referred to 
from the beginning, through all the dispensations of 
God. The symbols of Paradise, the sacrifices of the 
Patriarchs, the types of the Law, the visions of the 
Prophets, and the sacraments of the New Testament; 
served to this gracious end. With the assistance of 
this light from above^ we can see the suffering Messiah 



320 principles or 

in the death of Abel, the sacrifice of Isaac, the pas 
chal lamb, the uplifted serpent, the scape goat, the 
sacrifices and offerings for sin, and in the high priest 
entering the holy place with the blood of the expiating 
victim. 

A Mediator betwixt God and his offending creatures, 
was an object, after which men, in all nations, had 
long and anxiously sought. Depressed by a conscious 
sense of guilt, the thought of venturing on a direct ap~ 
proach to the sovereign Ruler and Judge, caused human 
nature to shrink. Labouring to find out some auspi* 
cious introductor, the blind and trembling worshippers 
fled to subordinate deities as their advocates. Them they 
studied to sooth with costly gifts to favour their cause. 
and support their interests with the supreme Divinity. 
While mankind was bewildered in this darkness, the 
true Mediator appeared, who in this view may be called 
the Desire of all nations. 

OF THE BENEFITS DERIVED TO MANKIND BY 
CHRIST. 

The benefits of Redemption are innumerable. In 
this gracious plan we nee that God so loved the world 
as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him might not perish, but obtain everlasting life. Here 
we view the most astonishing display of the love oi 
Christ, in submitting to the ignominious death of the 
cross. He passed by the nature of angels, and took 
upon himself the form of a servant. He had frequenl 
experience of inward sorrow and outward distress. 
Whatever is severe in the disregard of relations, the 
ingratitude of friends, the scorn of the proud, and the 
insults of the mean, he had to endure. He was a man 
of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs. He was trou- 
bled, hungry, thirsty, weary, languid, faint, and grieved. 
In the garden of Gethsemane we see his innocent na- 
ture oppressed with severe anguish. A bitter cup is to 
be exhausted to the very dregs. He was sorrowful^ 
sore amazed, and very heavy ; exceeding sorrowful 
even to death. A sweat of blood streams to the ground* 



THE METHODISTS, 32! 

Betrayed by one disciple, denied by another, and for- 
saken by all. Dragged to prison and judgment. Spit- 
ting, striking, blind-folding, and mocking are employed. 
Condemned to die, he is stripped, nailed to the wood., 
and hung up, as a gazing stock, and public malefactor. 
Surely this Redemption must be acknowledged to be 
peculiarly calculated to arrest the attention, and to form 
the heart of man to all inward piety, and all outward 
good conduct. Some views of the Divine Nature com- 
mand our most solemn reverence ; but the Gospel plan 
attracts the warmest affections of the heart. In the 
scheme of Redemption we see the Divine Mercy car- 
ried to the greatest possible extent, surpassing all know* 
ledge and exceeding all calculation, to all mankind, in al! 
its important benefits. 

HOW CHRISTIANS ARE TO ATTAIN TO A PERSONAL 
REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 

The Methodists do not believe that Baptism, admi° 
nistered in any form, is regeneration. The one is al- 
lowed to be but a sign of the other; namely, an outward 
and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. The 
one is the act of man, the other, the operation of the 
Holy Ghost. 

They profess anH believe that to obtain a saving in- 
terest in the Redemption of Christ, a life of obedi« 
ence, however sincere, is not sufficient. Every man 
is sensible of his having, at some time or in some in- 
stance, done the wrong, or omitted the right, and there- 
fore to share the salvation of the Gospel, he must be 
-' a sinner saved by grace." 

The Methodists believe and maintain that there is no 
name under heaven by which a man can be saved but 
the name of Jesus Christ, who died to make atonement 
for the sin of the world : that the shedding of his blood 
in death, was a full satisfaction to the justice of God : 
that God, who does nothing without infinite reason, re- 
quired the incarnation and sufferings of Christ. These 
sufferings are, to the Divine Justice, infinite reason, why 
it should remit the sins of all real penitents j who may 



>22 PRINCIPLES OF 

now, on this ground, approach the throne of grace in the 
name of Christ, and claim the divine favour. 

Though the command of God be, tk Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour 
as thyself," our consolation is, that in this great work 
of faith, patience of hope, and labour of love, we art 
not left to our own skill or industry. The Gospel dis- 
covers to us most powerful resources, and assures us. 
that wisdom to direct, power to help, and grace to sanc- 
tify, shall be his paternal gifts, on the easy condition of 
asking for them. 

The rewards of another life, which are discovered 
to us by the Gospel, are likewise powerful incentives 
to continue steadfast in duty, and to go on to perfection. 
knowing that our labour i« not in vain in the Lord. 

Though the Methodists set all proper value on right 
or orthodox opinions, yet they would have it to be un- 
derstood, that whoever says of a Methodist, " He is a 
a man of such and such opinions," and leaves his cha- 
racters stagnate there, misses the whole affair. While 
they believe the written word of God to be the only 
and sufficient rule of faith and practice — with respect to 
opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, 
they think and let think. 

They wish it to be understood, that no peculiar 
phrases, or forms of speech, are tu be considered as 
forming the distinguishing marks of a genuine Metho- 
dist. They make use of the most easy, obvious, and 
current words, except when thev make use of scriptu- 
ral truths, in language of Scripture. 

The Methodists are not to be distinguished by an) 
peculiar form of dress. They believe, at the same time, 
that plainness and cleanliness, and not costliness, fashion, 
or show, ought to be characteristics of the followers oi 
the lowly Jesus. They do not wish to be distinguished 
by abstaining from marriage, or from the temperate 
use of proper meats and drinks. 

They do not wish to be distinguished by laying the 
whole stress of religion on any particular part. While 
the sinner is called to repent, the penitent is called to 
believe, and the believer to obey. The heart, thf 



THE METHODISTS. 328 

hand, the lips, the life, must all combine in this divine 
work of the Lord. 

A genuine Christian, though not always on his knees s 
yet finds frequent opportunity for humble supplication. 
The unaffected language of his heart is, " Thou Bright- 
ness of the Eternal Glory, unto thee is my soul, even 
without a voice, and my silence speaketh to thee. 
Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, Benefactor, I owe my- 
self and my all to thee. I acknowledge the unmerited 
favour. I yield myself to thee ; not being my own, 
but thine, bought with a price. Henceforth my soul 
and body shall glorify thee. Assist me, O Lord, for 
without thee I can do nothing. And graciously con- 
tinue this assistance, until glory shall end what grace 
has begun. All this I ask through Jesus Christ my 
great Advocate and Mediator. Amen. 

Nor do the customs of the world, in which he feels 
himself to be but a stranger and a pilgrim, hinder him 
from running the race which is set before him. He 
knows that sin, however fashionable, does not lose its 
nature, and therefore he is crucified to the world. He 
cannot follow a multitude to do evil. He cannot fare 
sumptuously every day, or make inordinate provision 
for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof. 

As he has time, he endeavours to do good to neigh- 
hours, strangers, friends, and even to enemies also. 
He feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, visits the 
sick and dying, opens the prison doors to the honest 
debtor, if it be in his power ; supports the widow, and 
makes the orphan sing for joy. 

These are the principles, practices, and marks of ge- 
nuine Methodists. By these are they to be distin- 
guished. If any man say, " Why, these are the com- 
mon fundamental principles of Christianity,'' we reply 
to him, " Thou hast said it." So we mean. We teach 
plain old Christianity, renouncing and disowning all 
other marks. And whosoever is both in heart and life 
what we believe and preach, is a genuine Christian. 

While we avow these principles, we do not desire 
to distinguish ourselves from real Christians of any 



j 



324 PRINCIPLES OF TKfc METHODISTS. 

other denomination. Them that do the will of our Hea 
venly Father, we acknowledge as our brother, sister, 
and mother. Why should genuine Christians be so 
much divided among themselves ? Should not the lan- 
guage of Christian inquiry be, " Is thy heart right with 
my heart, as my heart is with thine ? Then give me 
thy hand." Let us not destroy the good work of God, 
for the sake of a few terms or opinions. Dost thou love 
and serve God ? That is enough. This is the true test. 
We give thee the right-hand of fellowship. If there 
be any consolation in Christ : if any comfort of love : if 
any fellowship of the Spirit : let us walk worthy of the 
vocation whereby we are called : with all lowliness and 
meekness, with long-sufferiug, forbearing one another 
in love — endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit 
in the bond of peace. 

To the names already quoted in this work, many 
more might be added, whose works have been consult- 
ed on the present occasion, who were men of the first 
names for learning and piety. 

I hope that this vindication and defence of the doc- 
trines of Methodism, while it is allowed by the candid 
reader to be a fair, impartial, and adequate reply to 
Mr. P.s unfounded and illiberal aspersions, will not 
prevent others, who are far better qualified for the task, 
from taking up the subject on a yet larger scale. While 
they are sedulously employed in furnishing their own 
minds, with a copious variety of useful and important 
matter ; in arranging it judiciously and orderly ; and in 
delivering it seriously and impressively ; they will be- 
sides think it incumbent, to furnish those who are 
brought to God by their ministry, with clear reascns 
and proper answers, which they may give to those who 
may inquire concerning the hope that is in them. 



THB END. 



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